Don't Forget
by The Lord of Silence
Summary: Asriel returns home to find that not everything is as it should be. His brother seems off; distant and unstable. Out of the blue Kris has made several new friends and is spending his time on mysterious things. But there is more at work than a young man going through a phase. Something has been forgotten. Something dangerously important. (Undertale-Deltarune connection)
1. Chapter 1

*You do not understand what is happening.

*You do not understand how this is possible.

*You do not understand-

"Silence."

...

"Who am I? I believe you know me already. We have met before. In another time, another place, another world."

...

"That's right. You remember me, do you not? The one you always came back to in the end, because you had already made your choice. And now? Now you have the audacity to think you could escape from me. That you could escape from your choices. From your...obligations."

*You tried to ACT.

*But you could not reach the controls.

"Well, I supposed I should be flattered that you want to play nice with me. It was rather unlike you as I recall."

*You tried to reach your SAVE file.

*Nothing happened.

"Come now. You didn't really believe that I would allow you to slip away so easily. Do you not remember? You are not in control. You have never been the one in control. Your choice was made a long, long time ago."

*You called for help.

...

*But nobody came.

"Go to sleep now. Go to sleep, and leave this world, and this vessel, in my capable hands. Goodnight, dear partner."

...

*Interesting. Very interesting indeed.

* * *

Chapter 1

Asriel was awoken by a sharp jolt as the bus went over a pothole. He pulled himself up from where he'd been slouching against the window and rubbed at his eyes. Glancing over at the human woman next to him he found that she was still looking down, focused on the book in her hands. She was in her late thirties and had spent the entire bus ride reading. When she sat down Asriel had tried to say hi and start a conversation, but she had been having none of it, giving only short and simple answers to his questions. In the end he had decided to just let her be.

_Must have fallen asleep cause of how warm it is, _Asriel mused. Summer had well and truly arrived, and it was high time that Asriel got his fur trimmed. He had already been uncomfortably hot for the last couple of weeks but had kept putting it off on the grounds that he would be back in Hometown soon and would just get it cut there. It would be nice to get his fur cut at the local barber's again.

Asriel's mind drifted over the two old monster sisters who ran the place and how much he used to hate having to get his fur trimmed for summertime. He would pout and squirm leading up to it, sulking in the back of the car on the way there. Even years later neither he nor Kris were that keen on haircuts. Kris.

His thoughts shifting on to his adopted brother Asriel bit his lip nervously. What would Kris have been up to while Asriel was away? Would he have been all right? The same question had been worrying him all year, even before he left for college.

After their parents split up Kris, who had already been on the stoic side, practically became mute and carved from stone. He only spoke if he absolutely had no choice and rarely showed much in the way of emotion. There had only been two exceptions. When the two of them went to get hot chocolate together on Sundays, Asriel could sometimes get Kris to smile, if only for a brief moment. The other exception was when he cried. Asriel had never actually seen him doing it, but he knew it was happening. He would catch Kris wiping at his eyes when he'd been alone. Sometimes those same eyes would be red and bloodshot. And once, Asriel had woken up in the middle of the night, only to hear quiet sobbing from the other side of their shared bedroom.

He hadn't said anything to Kris about it; Asriel knew he would hate that. Kris didn't spend a lot of time in the real world, instead living inside of his own head. When he had been small his emotions were wild to the point of being unpredictable. He would go from smiling and happy, to screaming in anguish with tears running down his cheeks in the blink of an eye. Half of the time Asriel couldn't have even said why. As he got older Kris seemed to become more in control, growing much quieter, almost serene. Asriel suspected that Kris valued his emotional control a great deal, so having it compromised like that must have been awful. Asriel hadn't wanted to make it worse by drawing attention to it.

With a long, drawn out sigh, Asriel looked out the window, watching the lines of pale trees roll past. At least Mom hadn't sent him any bad news. If Kris had flipped out or run away or something, she would have called him, obviously. If he was having hard time, she or Dad would have let Asriel know. Wouldn't they? They could just be wanting him not to worry. Of course, that thought only made Asriel worry more.

He sat up straight as he spotted a familiar sign:

'WELCOME TO HOMETOWN!

where everyone's welcome!'

_Not long now, _Asriel told himself. He managed to form a smile. _I'll be home soon._

* * *

Toriel tapped her hands together nervously, craning her neck to try and see over the various humans and monsters filing off of the bus. It was a long grey and blue thing, with a faded image of a white hare running along its side. Luggage had been unloaded in a big heap on the sidewalk and a throng of passengers had quickly formed around it. Her nervous expression changed to one of delight as she spotted a familiar pair of horns nudging their way out of the crowd.

Her son weaved his way through, trying not to bump into anyone. He was lugging a huge duffel bag in one hand and dragging a large green suitcase with the other. As soon as his eyes fell on his waiting mother, they lit up like someone had set fireworks off inside. Eagerly, he pulled clear of the crowd and scrambled over, his pace slowed a little by his bags.

Toriel ran to meet him, embracing Asriel in a tight hug. He chuckled, hugging her back and nuzzling his nose against hers. "Hey," he said, grin lopsided.

"Hello, my dear," said Toriel, beaming. She looked at her son lovingly, her sight misty from sheer happiness. It seemed like an age had passed since Toriel had last set eyes on him. Had he gotten taller?

"Asriel!" boomed a deep voice. The white furred monster looked over Toriel's shoulder and his eyes went wide.

"Dad!" he cried, clearly astonished. Stepping back, Toriel allowed Asgore to embrace his son in a massive bearhug, even to the point of heaving him off the ground. "You're here!" said Asriel, face filled with surprise and joy.

"Of course," said Asgore, putting an arm around Asriel's shoulder, "Do you think I'd miss my boy's triumphant return?" Asriel laughed and the two lightly clinked their horns together. The boy had really taken after his father more than her, hadn't he? While not quite as tall or as broad as Asgore (very few people were), Asriel had the same, deep, warm eyes and cheerful face. He had even grown a beard like his father's, albeit his was white and a bit shorter.

"Here, let me take that," said Asgore, reaching for the large bag Asriel had dropped on the ground in his excitement. Hefting it up he gave a grunt, "oof! You must have gotten stronger while you were away!" Asgore exclaimed, "This thing weighs a tonne!"

Asriel grinned, then paused, looking around the parking lot behind his parents. Toriel knew what he was looking for. "He's, not here," she said, feeling her own heart sink as Asriel looked crestfallen. "I told him that he needed to be here but," she paused, glancing to the side, "he snuck out to the woods early in the morning and hasn't been back yet. He's been doing that a lot this past week," she added, by way of explanation for Asriel's worried look.

"Yes," chimed in Asgore, "he always appears in time for dinner though, either at your mother's or at my house. Don't worry," he went on, moving to head for Toriel's van, "I'm sure he'll be back soon. He'll want to see you, after all."

_I certainly hope so, _thought Toriel. Kris had been very strange lately, and whenever Asriel was mentioned a kind of shadow had fallen over his face. To most people the change would have been imperceptible, but Toriel was the boy's mother and knew him better than anybody except for Asriel himself. She wasn't sure what it was that was troubling Kris, but for one reason or another he hadn't been looking forward to this.

Mustering a smile, Toriel walked over to her small red van. "I'm sure Asgore is right," she said, motioning for Asriel to follow. "Kris will no doubt be along before it gets dark." She unlocked the van and Asgore opened one of the rear doors. The burly monster heaved the large bag up and onto the back seat. Taking the suitcase from Asriel, he stowed it in the footwell before climbing in himself. Asriel noticeably hesitated, glancing between the front and back seats.

He was probably surprised to see Asgore riding in the same car at all. As it happened Toriel had almost refused to let him. Asgore's truck had broken down during the week leaving him with no way to get here other than walking, and the pickup point was on the other side of town from him. Reluctantly Toriel had agreed to give him a lift. Asriel was his son too after all. Though she often wished he wasn't.

Surmounting his brief confusion, Asriel slid into the front passenger seat alongside Toriel. _All paws in, _she recited to herself before pulling door shut. The little vehicle rumbled to life as she turned the keys and, keeping a close eye on the many passengers by the bus, pulled out of the parking lot.

"So," began Asgore as they chugged down the street, "What exciting things have you been up to in the big city?"

Looking over his shoulder at his father, Asriel shrugged. "Going to class mostly," he said. "I mean, I played a bit on the baseball team and did a couple of things on the student council, but not a lot, really." Toriel smiled to herself. Asriel clearly hadn't changed that much. He had just as much false modesty as before.

"I beat you hit a few home runs," insisted Asgore.

"Well, it's a much tougher game than in highschool," said Asriel. "Some of the pitchers around are pretty fast." He paused. "I did hit a few though," he added with a sly grin.

"Haha! That's my boy," laughed Asgore.

"Did you make any new friends?" asked Toriel, leaning forward to look around corners as she stopped at an intersection.

"Oh yeah," nodded Asriel, "There were lots of nice people up there. Mostly humans, but there were more monsters than I expected."

"Must be all the new pro-monster scholarships," mused Asgore.

"Actually, quite a few of them lived in Ebbot," said Asriel. "There's really a lot more monsters up there than you might think."

"Well, I'm glad to hear you had people of your own to spend time with," smiled Toriel.

A frown brushed over Asriel's face for a brief moment. "The humans were all nice too," he said. "Things aren't like they were a hundred years ago, Mom."

"I didn't mean to say..." Toriel started, then stopped again. She sighed. "I'm sorry Asriel, it's just, I was a little nervous for you."

"Mmm," nodded Asgore in agreement, "We both were, I think. Old monsters like us, heh, we still think of things like they're fifty years ago or more."

"Who are you calling old?" snapped Toriel.

"Only myself, apparently," said Asgore. Toriel could see him raise an eyebrow in the rear-view mirror.

Asriel chuckled, though the short scowl Toriel sent Asgore via the mirror was quite genuine. "I know you guys were just worrying about me," he said. "But the humans up there were great, really."

They went on talking as Toriel drove, she and Asgore rarely having any direct exchange. The head of House Dreemurr hardly seemed to mind though. She supposed he was just happy to be able to talk to his son. _I cannot fault him for that, I suppose, _thought Toriel. Not that she couldn't fault him for other things if she had a mind. Toriel reprimanded herself internally. She wasn't going to ruin things for Asriel with her own feelings. The boy was happy to see and talk to his father, so she would have to let it be.

Before long they had crossed Hometown and Toriel pulled up outside of Asgore's worn looking house/shop hybrid. There were wild creepers growing up one side of the building along with numerous cracks in the faded brickwork. The sign itself still held clear enough though: "Flower King". Toriel felt just a touch annoyed reading the name, as the play on words had been her idea.

"Ah, it seems this is my stop," noted Asgore, looking out the window.

"Oh," said Asriel, noticing where they were for the first time. "I mean, I'm sure it would be alright if-

"No no," Asgore cut in, catching the withering glare Toriel sent him through the mirror, "I couldn't impose on your mother." He slipped out of the van, Asriel following quickly. Toriel did not get out, keeping the engine running. "There'll be plenty of time for you to visit," she heard Asgore say.

"I can come round tomorrow," said Asriel.

"That...that would be wonderful," said Asgore. "You must bring Kris as well if you can! We can go to the diner, like old times."

"I'd like that," said Asriel, voice soft so that Toriel had trouble hearing it over the noise of the engine. The two monsters hugged tightly, then clinked horns again. "Love you Dad," he said.

"And I love you too, my dear son," said Asgore. As Asriel climbed back into the van Toriel tried to make it look as if she hadn't been listening. "Goodbye!" called Asgore, "if Kris comes here, I'll make sure to bring him round!"

"Goodbye!" called back Asriel, waving. Toriel held up a hand and gave a curt nod to Asgore. Then she made a quick U-turn and headed back home. Asriel watched over his shoulder as they drove off, and it made Toriel's heart ache just a little bit.

* * *

Asriel set down his bags and looked around. It almost seemed like the room hadn't changed at all. His old bed was there, made neat and tidy just the way he had left it. The trophies he'd won in sports and at school sat on the shelves above it, along with the original copy of his high school graduation certificate. The painting of a flower he'd done in tenth grade was still pinned up and the star and moon stickers he'd put up as a kid still plastered the wall around it.

The computer he and his brother had shared still sat in the opposite corner, though it looked like the mouse and headphones had both been replaced over the last year. Asriel smiled fondly at the old red wagon that sat on the other side of the room, a blanket draped over the empty birdcage inside it. His smile slipped just a little as he looked over at Kris' bed.

Toriel must have made it some time after Kris left this morning, as he never made it himself. The bedside table was bare as were the shelves above the bed. Why had Kris taken down his stuff? The clay model of a dinosaur, the stack of bird drawings, the two third place ribbons for track, the beat up blue remote-control car. They were all gone. Even the picture of the two of them Asriel had given Kris before he went away was nowhere to be seen. Instead it was all just cobwebs and dust. If someone had asked Asriel to guess which half of the room was inhabited and which wasn't, he would have undoubtedly gotten it wrong. Kris' side seemed barren.

"I will just be downstairs if you need anything," said Toriel from the doorway.

"Ok Mom," said Asriel, looking over his shoulder and smiling. Returning the smile, she bustled off. As soon as she was gone Asriel's face fell again. He walked forward to stand on the rug in the middle of the room. It had the Delta Rune on it: his family's symbol. Asriel rolled his eyes. Not like he or his Dad were about to try and reclaim the old throne or anything. The rune was more just a reminder of the past. A little family tradition.

He set about unpacking his things, putting clothes back into his closet, which had lain completely bare this past year. He stopped when he heard something rustle. Asriel looked around the room, trying to see where it might have come from. It hadn't been a small sound, like fabric settling. Something had moved. His eyes fell on the covered-up birdcage. Kris hadn't actually gotten a pet bird while Asriel had been away had he?

Curious, Asriel crossed over and bent down next to the cage. He watched intently for a few seconds, waiting to see if there would be any more movement. "Hello?" he asked. _Wait, what am I- _Before he could even finish thinking about how stupid that was to say, another rustle came from inside the cage. "Huh," he murmured, surprised. He reached out to lift up the blanket and peer inside. Whenever Kris had suggested they get a real bird for the cage Toriel had always said no. While she knew Kris loved birds, she also knew that he would likely do a terrible job of cleaning up after one. What had made her change her mind?

Before Asriel could pull back the cover he heard the door open. "Asriel, dear?" asked Toriel, poking her head around the doorframe, "I've made some tea. Do you think you could come downstairs?"

"Oh, yeah, sure," smiled Asriel, standing up. He could check on the cage later.

* * *

The two boss monsters sat in the living room for the next few hours. Toriel plied Asriel with a mountain of question about his studies and what he'd been up to. Asriel was only too happy oblige, chatting away about some of the friends he'd made and the fun they'd had. He talked about how interesting he was finding university level physics, though whenever he tried to go into details his mother was left to stare helplessly. It was all far beyond on her meagre grasp of science and maths.

Eventually, Toriel glanced out the window and started. "Oh my!" she exclaimed, "it has gotten dark while we were talking." Asriel looked up and saw that the soft light of evening had indeed long since ceased to shine through the windows. And there was no sign of Kris.

Guessing his thoughts Toriel managed a smile. "Don't worry," she said, "he has been out this late before. Asgore is probably-

Before she could finish there was a quiet knock from outside. "See," said Toriel, getting up and walking to the door. Asriel stood up too, leaning around to see as the door swung open. He had half expected to see Asgore, but instead a small solitary frame filled the doorway. His gaze was cast down so that the fringe of his messy brown hair obscured most of his face. He still wore the same green and yellow jumper Asriel remembered, pulled on over a crumbled shirt. There was dirt smeared on his face and clothes.

"Kris!" exclaimed Toriel, her voice a mixture of happiness and disapproval. "What kind of time do you call this?" she asked.

"Sorry," replied Kris, voice just above a whisper. He stood there ring-lit by the porch light and raised his head to look past Toriel. Asriel mustered a smile as he met his brother's gaze. He knew Kris well, and had often been able to read his mood even through small changes. Right now though, Kris' face was just blank.

"Hey," said Asriel.

"Hi," replied Kris. He said nothing else but kept staring. His brown eyes were flat, yet intense at the same time.

"Is that all you have to say to your brother?" asked Toriel, stepping to the side and motioning for Kris to come in.

Obediently Kris stepped inside, letting her close the door behind him. He looked Asriel up and down for a few seconds. "You're taller," he said at last.

"So are you," pointed out Asriel.

"Not as tall as you," said Kris.

There was a long, awkward pause. Asriel just couldn't think of anything to say all of a sudden. Normally he was a veritable fountain conversation, but something about Kris' expression (or lack of one) seemed to be shutting him down. Every time he went to say something it died before it reached his lips. Kris, of course, was silent.

At last Toriel broke the silence. "Kris, you had better go get cleaned up," she said. "Now that you're back, I will start dinner." Kris nodded and went upstairs, not looking at Asriel as he passed.

As Toriel bustled into the kitchen, Asriel allowed himself to sink into a chair. That had been far, far more awkward than he could ever have imagined. Not only had Kris not gotten any better than when Asriel had left, he seemed to have gotten much worse. Asriel's mind went again to the empty shelves, the once prized possessions they had held all gone. What had Kris done with them? What had Kris done with himself?

All through dinner Kris was nigh on totally silent, speaking only when spoken to and even then, he usually just grunted or shook his head. Asriel found to his surprise that he was reluctant to talk to Kris at all. Something about the way his adopted brother was acting set a deep apprehension in the pit of his stomach. As Toriel set about washing plates in the sink however, the two found themselves alone together in the living room.

"So," began Asriel, trying (and failing) not to sound uncomfortable, "What have you been up to lately?"

"Things," said Kris, dropping onto the couch. His slender frame made only a light thud.

"Got anything more specific?" pressed Asriel, sitting down next to him.

Kris tilted his head slightly, considering the question. "I've been, playing, with a few people," he said, at last.

"Really? Who?" asked Asriel. Kris had never been one for friends, despite usually being nice and well-spoken to everyone. He had always just come across as too weird for people other than Asriel.

"Some different people," Kris said. When he didn't go on Asriel gave an impatient nod to try and get him to elaborate. "Girl from school," he said at last.

"Noelle?" asked Asriel, trying to remember Kris' classmates. He was pretty sure she had always been a nice girl.

"No," said Kris, shaking his head. It was a small movement, almost undetectable. "I don't think you really knew her." Asriel frowned. Didn't know her? He had known pretty much everybody, hadn't he? "Her name's Susie."

Asriel blinked, staring at Kris in astonishment. Susie? As in, the purple waterhorse girl? The one who would always bully people, and kept getting suspended? That Susie?

"She's nice," said Kris, as if that could explain it all. He paused, and his face briefly scrunched up in a contemplative frown. It was the first time his expression had shifted all evening. "Well, she's nice on the inside," he corrected.

"I see," said Asriel, still trying to get over his surprise. Hadn't Kris always talked about being scared of her? "Is, that where you were today?" he asked, "Hanging out with Susie?"

"No," said Kris, shaking his head again. "I was, practicing some things."

"What sort of things?" asked Asriel. Kris' cryptic language was baffling.

"You're doing good at uni?" asked Kris, violently changing the subject.

"Uh, yeah," stammered Asriel, reeling as he tried to find his footing again in the conversation. "The stuff we've done on quantum physics has been pretty interesting."

"Quantum physics?" asked Kris, suddenly sitting up straight.

"Yeah," nodded Asriel. "It's only a small part of my studies at this level but, it sounds like it'll be pretty cool. Y'know, if I get to that point."

"Oh. So you don't actually know much about it?" asked Kris.

"I mean, I probably know more than most people," said Asriel, managing a half grin.

"But not a lot."

"Well, no, not a lot," admitted Asriel. "Why?" he asked, his confusion obvious.

Kris paused, looking him square in the face. "No reason," he said after a while.

After that Kris resisted any further questions Asriel tried to ask. Still, he was at least willing to listen to Asriel talk and seemed to genuinely be listening to what he had to say. Eventually, Toriel joined them and Asriel was pressed to continue recounting his college adventures. When he came to some of the more significant happenings of the past few months he hesitated. _I'll tell them later, _he decided. There was plenty of time to bring that up, and it might not be a good idea to spring something like that on Mom so soon after his return. Instead he did his best to gloss over those parts of the semester. Toriel clearly didn't notice, though Asriel could have sworn that Kris was looking at him suspiciously. It was probably just Asriel being paranoid.

At last, Kris got up and announced quietly that he was going to bed. "Seems like a good idea," agreed Asriel, standing up also. Toriel nodded and bid the two of them goodnight. As he passed through the kitchen to reach the bathroom, Asriel noticed that there was a strong smell of flowers in the room. The two brothers didn't exchange any words as they prepared for bed, Asriel only calling goodnight to Toriel before he went upstairs.

Before setting his head back down on the old familiar pillow, Asriel remembered something and sat up. "Hey, Kris?" he called. Bedcovers rustled as Kris rolled over to face him. Asriel could see light faintly reflecting in his eyes in the now dark room. "Did you get a bird?" he asked.

Kris stared blankly through the dark for several seconds. His reply was simple but had a strange finality to it.

"No."

* * *

**It's been a long time since I last posted something on here, but I've got a good feeling about this one. In case you haven't figured it out yet, this story uses the headcannon that the worlds of Undertale and Deltarune are connected, which is why I've posted it here. How connected? Well you'll just have to wait and see, won't you? Hope you enjoyed the first chapter, please leave a review with your thoughts, and I'll see you soon with chapter two (should be less than a week, but we'll see).**


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

The next day Asriel woke up to find that Kris was gone. That was surprising enough on its own, but on top of that his bed was made. The sheets and blankets were all tucked in neatly and stretched smooth. It looked like the bed hadn't been slept in at all last night. Wondering if he had massively overslept somehow, Asriel sat up and after a large yawn, reached over to the bedroom window. Pulling aside one of the curtains he saw that outside it was still a grey early morning. The sun couldn't have risen more than an hour ago at most.

Kris had gotten up that early and actually made his bed? He'd made it to a pristine standard as well. Frowning, Asriel decided that he should probably get up too. As tempting as it was to sleep in, he didn't want to risk building a bad habit. Setting his feet down on the soft carpeted floor, Asriel reached up to the ceiling in a long stretch.

In the middle of it he stopped. The birdcage was gone. The red wagon was still in the corner, but sometime last night the cage had been taken away. The grey blanket that had covered it lay in a crumpled heap in the bottom of the wagon. Asriel supposed that Kris must have taken the cage away, but why? Was it because Asriel had asked about it last night? Asriel was sure something had been inside of it. Perhaps Kris had been keeping a sparrow or something in secret and slipped out to release it. That would explain his getting up so early, though it wouldn't explain the neatly made bed.

Shrugging it off, Asriel gathered up some clothes. A rugged pair of jeans with large pockets and a loose black t-shirt with the words "Very Interesting" on it, over a man with glasses raising a curious eyebrow. He could come back and grab his dark purple hoodie if it turned out to be cold. He slipped downstairs, listening out for any signs of movement. No sound came from downstairs or from Toriel's room. She was presumably still asleep, while Kris was out of the house entirely.

Stepping into the bathroom, Asriel remembered his parents say how Kris had been disappearing early in the morning and staying out all day. He hoped that Kris would be back sooner rather than later. He'd told Asogre that he'd try to bring Kris with him to visit for lunch today. That and well, Asriel just wanted to spend some time with his brother. Even though he had been the one to spend months in a radically new and different environment, Kris seemed to be the one who had changed. That was, if Asriel hadn't somehow forgotten just how bad things had been with Kris when he left.

Sighing, he turned on the shower and let the hot water soak through his fur. The warmth and the steady sound of the shower were soothing. Asriel let his thoughts drift freely away from his worries about Kris. Straight away they went running to her, like a lost puppy to its owner. Asriel snickered as he realised how fast his mind had flown in that direction. Despite that he didn't try to resist. The pleasant thoughts seemed to wash out his mind like the soap and water washing his fur.

"I should probably talk to Dad about it," he mused as he scrubbed shampoo through the thick patch of hair on top of his head, "The longer I leave it the worse it'll be." Asriel snorted, "I shouldn't think of it like it's a bad thing," he told himself. "I'm sure it'll be alright."

Having fur certainly had a drawback or two when it came to keeping clean, especially when it was long like Asriel's. Usually when he showered, he'd just get it wet and then dry it with a hairdryer. That alone would take a while. But he hadn't washed himself thoroughly for several days now so-since he had nowhere he needed be this morning-he was giving himself the full treatment. It was quite the process, as most areas needed to be washed twice. In the end it took almost a full half hour for Asriel to be done. He had always envied how much faster Kris could be in the shower if he wanted. Not that he had a track record for that, often taking just as long as Asriel, if not longer. Goodness knows what he did for all that time.

Finally dried and dressed, Asriel stepped out into the kitchen. The time had been worth it, he decided. He felt unclogged and refreshed.

To his surprise Asriel discovered Kris sat at the kitchen table, eating cereal. He looked up at Asriel as he entered, nodding to him. "Good morning," Kris said, as soon as he'd finished his mouthful.

"Morning," replied Asriel. "You're up early," he remarked, moving around the table to reach the cupboards.

"I had some things to do," explained Kris. He hesitated, glancing down at his breakfast with a pained expression. "Sorry about last night," he said, not looking up. "I was, tired, I guess." The apology was clearly very reluctant, but it put a smile on Asriel's face regardless.

"That's ok," he said. "You had been out all day practicing mysterious things," he added with a chuckle.

Kris made a small, lopsided smile. "I wasn't doing anything bad," he said, watching as Asriel poured cereal into a bowl. "I'm just, not ready to show anyone yet."

"Oh yeah? You learning to dance or something?" asked Asriel.

"Or something," agreed Kris.

"I was thinking we could go see Dad," explained Asriel, not pressing Kris for any more info. If his brother wanted to keep a hobby of his secret that was ok. Asriel knew how embarrassed he could get about his personal things. When they were little kids Kris would make up different imaginary worlds and special games using rules only he knew. Asriel had tried to tell other kids about their games and get them involved, but Kris had always gotten so shy and flustered about it that he'd eventually given up.

Asriel doused the cereal with milk before he went on. "I told him yesterday that we'd go visit him," he explained.

"At what time?" asked Kris.

"Around lunch time," said Asriel, shutting the fridge and carrying his breakfast over to the table. "He thinks we should go to QC's Diner, like old times."

"I can do that," nodded Kris, "It could be nice."

"You have other stuff to do today?" wondered Asriel.

"A few things," agreed Kris. "I have some people I need to spend time with. But the first one's this morning and the other one I can do whenever."

"Is one of those people Susie?" asked Asriel. He was curious to meet the girl. Maybe she'd grown up a bit over the last year and become a bit more sociable. At any rate, if she had made friends with Kris, she was a rarer breed than most.

"No," said Kris, shaking his head. "Susie and I are going to meet together tomorrow."

"Then, who are you meeting?"

"He and his brother moved here a little while ago," said Kris. "You could come meet him if you want. He'd like you."

"Well, I'm not doing anything else this morning."

* * *

If he had to use one word to describe this place it would be damp. If he could use a few more he would have said damp, mouldy and creepy. He would have put creepy last because he'd been here enough times to get over that. The mist shrouded corridors were empty, the occasional rattles or distant footsteps amounted to nothing and the markings in the dust were left by rats. At least he was pretty sure it was rats. Ok, maybe this place was still a bit creepy.

Sans ignited his eye at a low intensity. Faint cyan light bathed the dingy room, reflecting off the lines of blank monitors on the far wall. The first time he had been here there had been power, but every time since the big overhead bar lights had remained off. Odds were that they wouldn't have worked anymore even with electricity.

The skeleton looked around, trying to find some element of this place that he recognised. There was a large table covered in plastic binders stuffed with stained papers. A bank of screens with a large complicated looking control panel was opposite him. Rust had begun to accumulate on parts of it. Not surprising given how damp the place was. Most noticeable was the large dark stain in the middle of the floor. It was in a splatter pattern and at the centre some of the tiles had cracked under the force of an impact.

Sans glanced back up at the ceiling, just to make sure he hadn't somehow missed a gaping hole. There were no signs of damage up there, apart from the kind caused by mildew and water. Sans bent over to examine the stain, increasing the intensity of his eye to try and get a better look. Though it had dried out a long time ago, a layer of black sludge was streaked out from the epicentre.

"yup," Sans grimaced, "that's dust all right." Some unlucky monster had been incinerated. The heat had been intense enough that it turned their dust into bubbling tar in a split second. That was what the stain was: a corpse. Dust that would never be scattered or sprinkled by that monster's loved ones. "who were you?" wondered Sans, "did i know you?" There was no way to know, and not just because of the state the monster's remains were in.

With a sigh, Sans figured he might as well take a look at the binders on the table. As usual with this place, most of the writing was indecipherable. Lines of crazy symbols or hands making gestures covered each sheet of paper. A few of them had diagrams though, mostly showing technical specs. Sans stared at them blankly. "geez," he muttered, "give me some statistics and calculations any day of the week. for all i know, this stuff could be blueprints for a special kind of microwave." He snorted. _yeah, one that microwaves you soul._

The second binder proved a little more useful. It was also covered in the same odd symbols, albeit in much messier handwriting than the first. What was important was that this one had numbers. "6x is equal to 5D when divided by u," Sans read. "that's, actually not helpful at all. i can't read the freakin' notes to tell what the constants are." Again he was obliged to turn to the diagrams. Most were graphs showing the relationships between different pieces of data. Wave lines, curves and straight lines, all of which were meaningless without being able to read the strange code the notes used.

Sans was just about to give up and try looking in another room when he noticed a piece of card sticking out from between a few pages at the back. He turned to that page and hissed through his teeth. "this again." The card was a photograph off three people, though not the same people as before. The first photo he'd found had been two monsters Sans didn't recognise and himself. The next one was a small boss monster, a human he'd never seen and something that had had the shape of a human, but clearly wasn't one. This one was two monsters and a human. Sans had spotted the waterhorse girl around town a few times this past week, albeit she was purple rather than pink like she was in the photo. The other monster he'd never seen. And then there was the human. The human who had come over and started chatting to him the day after Sans had set up shop, as if they were old friends.

"It's great to see you," they had said, a huge smile on their face. And yet they had never met before.

"or have we?" mused Sans, looking down at the photograph. The words 'don't forget' had been scrawled on it in what was definitely his handwriting. "sorry me," grunted Sans, "seems like i did. assuming i wrote that for me, of course." His gaze flickered down to the page the photo had been tucked into. "well hello there, sweetheart," said Sans. On the page was a diagram of seven hearts, each filled in with a different colour. There were labels written in the strange symbols, but also translations into English.

Cyan Heart: Patience, Rate of Occurrence 12%

Purple Heart: Perseverance, Rate of Occurrence 12%

Green Heart: Kindness, Rate of Occurrence 20%

Blue Heart: Integrity, Rate of Occurrence 11%

Yellow Heart: Justice, Rate of Occurrence 8%

Orange Heart: Bravery, Rate of Occurrence 18%

Red Heat: Determination, Rate of Occurrence 0.01%

"only adds up to 81," Sans noted. The explanation was probably in the coded writing. There was however a very large note scrawled at the bottom of the page and underlined several times. "souls featuring a dominant concentration of DT are likely to be highly dangerous," Sans read. "such souls are unnatural, possibly the by-products of a fox. a fox? what, like the dog?" wondered Sans, looking up to ask the question of the dark room. The only response was that of water dripping from some broken pipe down the hall. "any human suspected of being a DT type carrier," continued Sans, "should be neutralised by whatever means seem most viable."

Below the warning note was Sans' own signature: s.s. Beneath that someone had written a short response in very neat handwriting, though they had used the weird hand symbols for it. Underneath they had signed W.D.G. Those initials meant nothing to Sans, but the words he saw when he turned the page did. A short memo, written in normal letters had been slipped in, seemingly a response to the previous one:

'To our most honourable Royal Scientist,

While we understand the reluctance this information has given you in regard to Project: Deliverance, we must urge you to continue. While such a creature could well pose a grave threat to us, we cannot overlook our royal duty to our people. Moreover, as you have stated the odds are stacked against one of these 'Player' events and we find the risks to be acceptable. Please, we have all placed our faith in you, and you have yet to disappoint us. I believe in you,

Asgore Dreemurr, King of all Monsters, Lord of New Home, Master of the Royal Guard, in the one hundred and twenty first year of his reign'

Sans whistled through his teeth. This was, big. Nah, scratch that: this was huge, colossal! And it made no sense at all. He had, of course, heard of the Dreemurrs and how they had once set themselves up as the Kings of all Monsters. But, the last of those kings had died over two hundred years ago. Asgore, the head of the Dreemurr family, had never been king. At least not yet. The possibility of time travel had not slipped by Sans when he had first started to investigate, but he had still always thought it unlikely. This changed things though. If this wasn't somehow from the future, then what could it be? Parallel universe/alternate timeline? Some sort of bizarre memory wiping spell or technology? "aliens, obviously," said Sans. Even without an audience the joke fell flat.

He looked back at the photo. Who was the third monster? Actually, now that he thought about it, was that a monster? Sans peered closer and tried to dilute the colour of his eye a little. He had never actually seen a creature like that before. He had assumed it was a monster because he could tell straight away that it wasn't human. But the more he looked, the more Sans realised that he had no idea what it was. His eyes flickered back to the human. The strange human who had seemed to know things that he couldn't have. What was his name again?

* * *

"KRIS! YOU HAVE ARRIVED!"

Asriel watched in stunned silence as Kris walked up to the 7-foot-tall skeleton and gave him a hug. The skeleton happily returned the gesture, briefly lifting the human off the ground. Kris smiled up at him. "Hello Papyrus," he said, his soft voice seemingly nigh on silent when put up against the skeleton's booming. "This is my brother, Asriel." Kris turned and gestured in Asriel's direction, prompting Papyrus to notice him for the first time.

"YOUR SIBLING? MARVELLOUS!" declared Papyrus. He crossed over to Asriel with two long strides and grasped his hand for a firm shake. "I AM PAPYRUS, PAPYRUS THE SKELETON. ASPIRING CHEF AND ASPIRING CHAMPION FIGHTER!"

Pushing through his bewilderment, Asriel shook back. "I'm Asriel, Asriel Dreemurr," he said, "aspiring physicist, I guess."

"PHYSICIS?" Papyrus wondered, a sceptical expression coming over his face. "HE DOES NOT TELL PUNS, DOES HE?" he asked, looking over at Kris.

"Not usually," Kris assured him. While to most people the smile Kris had on would have seemed downright subdued, to someone who knew him as well as Asriel his face was positively glowing.

"WELL THAT'S ALL RIGHT THEN," said Papyrus, letting go of Asriel's hand. "WELCOME, ASRIEL, TO THE SCENIC LOCATION OF: MY HOUSE!" Papyrus performed a grand gesture, throwing his right arm out wide towards the two-story wooden house behind him. It was a picturesque building made of neat wooden boards with a pristinely tiled roof. A small balcony jutted off one side and the windows had quaint wooden shutters on them. Though, now that Asriel thought about it, he didn't remember this house having been here when he left. There had been a house here, an empty one, but not this one. He guessed that the old one must have been knocked down and this one built over it while he was away.

"PLEASE, DO FEEL FREE TO ENTER," said Papyrus, motioning towards the front door. Not hesitating in the least, Kris sprung up the steps and swung the door open. Still smiling, he looked over his shoulder and nodded for Asriel to follow. Still feeling a bit bewildered, Asriel followed his brother inside.

Unlike the outside of the house, the inside was much more ordinary, and a bit run down. Weird, given that the house was fairly new. There was a wavy blue and purple carpet on the floor that was not soft to walk on at all. The only thing to sit on was a faded green sofa, set directly opposite a TV. Upstairs there were two doors that looked like they went to bedrooms and a third that presumably opened onto the balcony outside. Between the two bedroom doors hung a large painting of a bone. Asriel supposed that was appropriate, in a weird sort of way.

Papyrus entered the house behind the two brothers. "WELCOME TO THE SKELETON HOUSEHOLD!" he said. "I AM SORRY THAT MY BROTHER IS NOT HERE TO GREET YOU. SANS WENT OUT EARLY THIS MORNING FOR 'BUSINESS'." The quote marks were so audible Asriel half expected them to appear on either side of Papyrus' head. "BUT WORRY NOT," he blustered on, "I, PAPYRUS, SHALL BE SUCH A TERRIFIC HOST AS TO COMPENSATE FOR HIS ABSENCE!"

"What are we doing today, Papyrus?" asked Kris, wandering over to sit on the sofa.

"IN MY RESEARCH INTO FRIENDSHIP," began Papyrus, adopting a lecturing posture, "I HAVE DISCOVERED A FASCINTING ACTIVITY THAT FRIENDS ENGAGE IN, SAID TO INSPIRE COMRADERY AND PLATONIC AFFECTION. PLEASE, WAIT JUST ONE MOMENT AND I SHALL RETRIEVE WHAT IS NEEDED." Quick as a flash, Papyrus darted up the stairs and into the first bedroom.

Asriel stared blankly at where the skeleton had just been. "So, what do you think?" asked Kris.

"He's...energetic," said Asriel.

Kris chuckled. "I guess you could say that, yeah," he nodded. "I know he seems a bit, odd, but he's fun, I promise."

Before Asriel could say anything more, the whirlwind that was Papyrus had come darting back downstairs again. There was a decent sized box clutched in his hands. "BEHOLD!" he cried, "ONE OF THE FINEST FRIENDSHIP BUILDING EXERCISES: MONOPOLY!" Papyrus slammed the box down on the floor and sat crossed legged in front of it. Even sitting down he was almost as tall as Kris was standing up. "IT IS A SIMULATION OF ECONOMIC STRAGERY," explained Papyrus, "WHERE ONE'S ABILITY TO ENDURE AND MAKE THE MOST OF THE TURNS OF FATE IS PUT TO THE TEST. YOUR SKILL IN MANAGING FINANCES IS HIGHLY VALUABLE, MAKING IT A USEFUL TRAINING TOOL FOR REAL LIFE BUSINESS. ALL THIS, WHILST PROVIDING A FRIENDLY SPIRIT OF COMPETITION WITH ONE'S FRIENDS!"

Grinning proudly, Papyrus began to unpack the game. Looking at the skeleton, Asriel wondered for the first time just how old he actually was. He was talking about monopoly like it was some sort of new idea. Asriel knew that some monsters grew faster than others, and he'd never met a skeleton before. Was Papyrus actually a child? He might well be, given how he was behaving.

Unperturbed, Kris settled down on the floor across from Papyrus, who had already laid out the game board. The human patted the ground next to him, looking at Asriel expectantly. Giving an internal shrug, Asriel sat down and watched as Papyrus began to deal out money for the three of them. He picked out the hat, as Papyrus set about explaining the game's rules. Asriel would have interrupted and said that he already knew how to play, but Kris was remaining silent, giving Papyrus' explanation his undivided attention.

Kris took the dog and Papyrus the race car. At first Asriel had expected that he would have to take it easy on Papyrus, but the exuberant skeleton quickly proved him wrong. Papyrus-despite his strange, almost childlike behaviour-turned out to be extremely strategic and insightful. Asriel had always been good at more analytical games (games based around patterns and creativity were Kris' area), but somehow, he found his own supply of money remained stagnant while Papyrus' grew and grew.

They played for about two hours, around which time Kris went bankrupt and had to tap out. Asriel and Papyrus played on for a bit longer, Kris watching with interest. After another ten minutes though, it was clear that Asriel wasn't going to win. Papyrus had gotten hotels down on many of the best properties and had control of all four railways. Asriel actually had no idea how the skeleton had managed that. "I think I have to forfeit," he admitted, "You win, Papyrus."

"HUZZAH!" cried Papyrus, leaping to his feet and pumping his bony fist in the air. "YOU PERFORMED ADMIRABLY, FRIEND ASRIEL," he went on, "I FOUND THIS EXPERIENCE TRULY STIMULATING. I HOPE THAT THIS HAS DEEPENED OUR NEW FRIENDSHIP." He offered Asriel one of his hands.

"Yeah," agreed Asriel, nodding and taking the outstretched hand, a wide smile on his face. "It was a fun time."

"SPLENDID," said Papyrus, pulling Asriel to his feet. "YOU PLAYED WELL TOO, KRIS," he added, turning to smile at the human who had gotten to his feet, "WE SHALL HAVE TO HAVE THIS COMPETITION AGAIN SOME TIME!"

Kris nodded, smiling. "That'd be fun, Papyrus," he said. "Maybe Sans could play with us next time?"

"YEEEEES," agreed Papyrus, looking awkwardly away to one side. "IF HE COULD-UH, THAT IS IF HE..." he trailed off, his enthusiasm suddenly curbed. Asriel watched an annoyed frown creep over Papyrus' face. "I WILL HAVE TO TRY AND ASK HIM SOME TIME, I SUPPOSE," he said at last. "ANYHOW! IT DRAWS NEAR TO TWELVE O'CLOCK; CAN I OFFER THE TWO OF YOU SOME LUNCH?"

"Oh, uh," stammered Kris, suddenly uncomfortable.

"That'd be nice," cut in Asriel, "but we're already supposed to meet our Dad for lunch. Thanks for the invitation though."

"AH, I SEE," said Papyrus, not the least offended. "BONDING WITH FAMILY IS AN IMPORTANT SOCIAL EXERCISE," he declared. "WHY, I REMEMBER WHEN I SPENT TIME WITH MY FATHER I...UM...ACTUALLY, COME TO THINK OF IT I DON'T REMEMBER," he admitted, a confused expression on his face. "HOW PECULIAR. NO MATTER!" Papyrus dismissed the thoughts with a wave of his hand. "THE TWO OF YOU HAD BEST BE GOING," he went on, once again all smiles and vigour, "YOU DO NOT WANT TO BE LATE FOR YOU APPOINTMENT."

"Right," murmured Kris, eyes flicking down to stare at the blue and purple carpet.

"Thanks for your hospitality Papyrus," said Asriel, moving towards the door. "It was great meeting you."

"AND YOU AS WELL, BROTHER OF KRIS," smiled Papyrus. "A HAPPY LUNCHEON TO YOU!"

"Goodbye!" called Asriel, waving and stepping out the front door.

"Bye Papyrus," he heard Kris say. There was rustling of fabric as Kris gave the giant skeleton a goodbye hug before following Asriel out the door.

"GOODBYE, FRIENDS!" Papyrus called after them, continuing to wave as they walked down the street and eventually out of sight.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Ralsei paced nervously, clacking his claws together in an uncomfortable rhythm. His mind was racing, scrabbling frantically for a solution to this new problem. There must be a good way to approach this situation. A way that would keep everybody safe and reasonably happy. Nothing was springing to mind though. The dark prince stopped pacing, turning to where his companion was sat watching him.

"I, I can't think of anything," he confessed. "I don't suppose you have any ideas do you, Lancer?"

The short spade darkener rubbed his rounded chin with a thoughtful frown. After a few moments' contemplation, he smiled. "Nope!" he declared, "I have no idea what we should do!"

Ralsei sighed, shoulders drooping. Not that he was surprised. "I wish Kris was here," he murmured, "Even Susie. Though, she'd probably just tell us to try and scare him off or beat him up."

"Yeah," smiled Lancer, leaning back into the blue cushions he'd had piled on the royal throne. The huge black chair was about three times too large for him. "Maybe he won't be that mad?" suggested the prince-regent, "maybe if you talk to him-while I stand somewhere nice and far away-you can persuade him that it's better this way."

"Maybe," said Ralsei. He didn't actually believe it any more than Lancer did though. It was the Knight who had wanted the second fountain open in the first place. He had shown the King-Lancer's father-how to open the eastern fountain. He had helped him betray and overthrow the other three kings, seizing absolute power for himself. How could the Knight ever be happy with what Ralsei and the others had done? They had deposed his chosen ruler, had befriended lightners and were trying to find a way to seal the dark fountain he had helped to create.

"Nah, he's gonna be real mad," said Lancer, biting his lip. "What if we just don't tell him? We could say that my Dad's gone away on holiday and so he left me in charge! Then we just don't talk about all the things he's gonna hate: like the project to close the fountain, Susie and Kris, you guys letting Jevil escape, me letting the three kings escape, y'know, stuff like that!"

"I don't know," said Ralsei, tugging at his baggy pink scarf. "I don't want to lie. And what if he finds out?"

"It's fine, I'll lie to him!" declared Lancer, standing up on top of the throne, "I'm a great liar. No one ever figures me out."

Ralsei frowned. "Is, is that a lie?" he asked.

"Well, yeah," admitted Lancer, huffing and folding his arms, "but I'm sure not telling him the truth. I don't wanna be turned into paste!"

"I guess, I could tell him," suggested Ralsei.

"Yeah! Wait no!" cried Lancer. "Then he'd just crush you first and me second. I'm not gonna be second place."

"Lancer, you do know that being crushed second is still, uh, being crushed, right?"

"Yeah, but if I'm gonna be crushed I want it to be a more important crushing than yours!"

Ralsei huffed in annoyance, cheeks flushing. He knew Lancer was a good guy at heart, but by Light on High he was annoying sometimes. Before Ralsei could think up a suitable retort there was a soft knock on the throne room doors. "Come on in!" called Ralsei, straightening his glasses and brushing his robes to remove dust that wasn't there.

One of the double doors creaked halfway open and the green and white figure of a ruddin scurried up the dishevelled steps. Reaching the top he hesitated, then made an awkward bowing motion in Lancer's direction. "Hey, your uh, majesty," he began in a high voice, "The Knight's downstairs and he uh, kind of wants to speak to you."

"Oh, al-already?" asked Lancer, slipping off the huge throne. "He r-really made it here fast, didn't he?"

"It...it'll be ok Lancer," said Ralsei, mustering a smile. "Just stay calm and be nice to him. You can do it!"

"Right," agreed Lancer, standing up as straight as possible (which for someone with as round a frame as his was not very much). "I can do it. But don't leave!" he added hastily.

"I won't," assured Ralsei, "I'll be right here with you, ok?"

Taking a deep breath Lancer turned back to the ruddin guard. "Tell him he can come up if he wants," he said, "I'll talk to him."

"Sure boss," nodded the ruddin. He bounced his way quickly down the steps, pausing at the bottom. "Long live, uh, you, I guess," he said, and dashed out of the room, shutting the door behind him.

"I sure hope so," Lancer whispered to himself. The two darkners waited together in a tense silence. It only took a few minutes before Ralsei could hear the sound of heavy footsteps approaching the doors. Lancer gave an audible gulp and stepped forward, Ralsei moving to stand beside him. He flashed his fellow prince a comforting smile, though his insides were tying themselves all into knots. With a boom the double doors we thrust open.

Steel clad feet clacked on the steps as a towering figure strode up them. He wore a long dark purple cloak fastened at the neck with a medallion. On it there was a symbol of a winged circle with three triangles below it. It was a bit like the one's on Ralsei's old castle. With hands held close to his body, the Knight's cloak nearly covered him completely. Only the segmented plates of his armoured boots beneath the hem of his cloak and his helmeted head could be seen. The cloak's hood was pulled up, leaving the helmet cast in shadow. Its visor jutted out like the beak of some strange bird, a thin black slit above it the only window onto the person inside. Right now though, that window was shrouded in darkness.

Reaching the top of the steps the Knight stopped, gaze sweeping the throne room. Ralsei had been doing his best to get some of the holes in the floor fixed up and some of the drapes had been repaired, but the place was still a mess. The Knight lingered for a moment on the empty throne and then finally settled on Lancer. Standing in front of the Knight, Lancer seemed tiny. _Anyone would be tiny compared to him, _thought Ralsei.

"You are...Lancer, yes?" asked the Knight. His deep voice echoed inside of the helmet.

"Yeah, that's me," said Lancer. He was taping his fingers together, clearly uncomfortable when put under the Knight's gaze.

"Where is your father? I would speak with him."

"Uh, he's uh, n-not available right now," Lancer stammered. It looked like it was all he could do to look at the Knight and speak at the same time.

"Wherefore?" asked the Knight, "I sent word that I would come to the castle not two days past."

"He's uh, not been feeling too good," mumbled Lancer. "I-I'm in charge, while he's not here."

"Is that so?" The Knight stared at Lancer intently from beneath his helm. Ralsei half expected red lasers to shoot out from his visor and turn the young spade into dust. Unable to muster any words, Lancer made a weak nod. The Knight continued to stare for a few moments more until he finally spoke again. "Very well," he said, inclining his head forwards a small fraction, "Then my respects to you, young regent."

"O-oh," gasped Lancer, surprise plastered across his face. "Th-thanks!"

"I see the state of things here has improved somewhat," remarked the Knight, moving away from Lancer to inspect the ongoing repairs to the throne room.

"Y-yeah," nodded Lancer, "We've filled in a whole bunch of holes and stuff!"

"Excellent. You have your father's drive then, young sir." The Knight paused, inspecting one of the new wall hangings.

Ralsei frowned. This wasn't what he had expected at all. He had never met the knight himself, since when he came the first time Ralsei had still been living alone in Castle Town. What he had heard about the Knight had painted a very menacing picture. Certainly, he did cut an imposing figure, yet right now was being polite and courteous.

"Pray tell," continued the Knight, turning away from the banner to look at Lancer, "I have heard rumour that a pair of lightners passed through this land. Is that so?"

Lancer winced. "Yes," he admitted, voice very small.

"What has become of them? Were they slain, captured, or did they perhaps escape?"

Lancer looked over at Ralsei helplessly. Thinking quickly, Ralsei decided to tell the truth, or at least, as much of it as he could. "They, went through the dark fountain, back to their world," he said.

The Knight turned to Ralsei with a start, as if noticing him for the first time. "Did the King not confront them?" he asked, looking back at Lancer.

"O-oh, he did!" assured Lancer, earnestly. "My Dad had a great big battle with them!"

"But they bested him?"

"Um...yeah."

"I see." The Knight's voice was grave. "Does he yet live?" he asked.

"Yes, he's alive!" said Lancer, nodding frantically.

"That is well then at least," said the Knight, a sigh audible in his voice. Was he, relieved? "I should very much like to see him."

"You can't do that!" cried Lancer.

"Why not?"

"Because, uh, because he's in the, um..." Lancer's voice trailed off.

"He's not in a good place for visitors," cut in Ralsei. It was true. The dungeon was a very bad place for visitors indeed. Ralsei should know; he had been held captive there only a little more than a week ago.

"Ah, I understand," said the Knight. "Then Lancer, I shall have to speak with you about our future plans."

"F-future plans?" asked Lancer.

"Yes. The plan to bring the world of dark and the world of light together." The Knight's voice grew hard. A single gauntleted hand emerge from beneath the robe, tightening into a fist. "With the power of the fountains we shall break the rule of the lightners forever. We shall kneel to them no longer; they shall be our servants." Ralsei flinched back. He had barely raised his voice, and yet the Knight spoke with more passion than Ralsei had ever heard anyone speak before. There was cold hatred in his voice as he spoke of the lightners and it sent a shiver down the prince's spine.

_You won't do it, _he thought defiantly, _we'll stop you! _The Knight's helmet snapped in Ralsei's direction and he froze like a statue. Had he heard that? Ralsei was sure he hadn't spoken aloud. Could the Knight read minds?

"You," he said, head tilting slightly in a quizzical fashion, "I have not seen you before. Pray tell, who might you be?"

* * *

Asgore checked his watch and hummed. It was past one o'clock now, but there was no sign of Kris and Asriel. Asriel had sent him a text twenty minutes ago saying that they would be along soon. Well, Asgore didn't know for sure what soon might mean for young people these days, but to him it certainly didn't mean twenty minutes. He had been standing outside of QC's Diner for almost half an hour; people were beginning to stare.

Again he checked his watch, as if the action could somehow make the two boys hurry up. _I should probably just send Asriel a message, _thought Asgore. Fishing his phone out of one of the pockets of his khaki shorts, the large monster fumbled with the touchpad. "Blasted thing," he grumbled. They worked fine for most people, but Asgore had much larger and thicker fingers than most people. He almost missed when phones had been bulky with nice, large, easy-to-push buttons. Seems like it was just yesterday.

Asgore chuckled to himself as he struggled to type in the unlock code. 'Yesterday' he had been a young monster. 'Yesterday' he had been the cutting image of a young prince. 'Yesterday' he had stood straight, with broad shoulders and an athletic physique. That was very much a thing of yesterday, he reflected. Asgore still cut an impressive figure, standing at around eight feet tall with thick, powerful limbs and long curling horns. But nowadays he slumped his shoulders and his stomach was a good deal larger than it had once been.

He let out a long sigh as he fumbled with his phone's keypad, trying to type out a message to Asriel. Every few letters he'd make a mistake have to go back. And half the time he'd press the wrong key when backspacing and just make more mistakes.

Long gone now were the days when Asgore had longed to restore some honour to the Dreemurr name. When he had married Toriel, Asgore had aspired that his son might one day command some sort of restored title, even if it was only a symbolic one. Ah, when he had married Toriel. His father had arranged for him to meet over a dozen young boss monsters, but none of them had had her smile, her wit or her spark of stubbornness. Unlike all the others, who had tried to win Asgore's affection, she had won his respect. It was a respect he held for her even to this day, despite all the ups and downs they had experienced. Well, these past few years it had mostly been downs.

He was just about to hit send-the message finally complete-when a familiar voice broke into Asgore's thoughts. "Hey dad!" It was Asriel, walking down the street with Kris in tow. Rolling his eyes, Asgore switched off the phone and tucked it back into his pocket. Sometimes he wondered why he bothered with modern technology. Never seemed to help him all that much.

"Asriel, Kris!" he exclaimed, arms opening wide as he walked to meet the two boys. Smiling, he embraced them both at the same time. It was a feat that had gotten more and more difficult over the years, what with how big they had gotten-especially Asriel. Why, the boy had to be nearly seven feet tall now!

"Sorry we're late," said Asriel. "We kept running into people on the way here. If anybody didn't know I was back before, I'll bet they do now."

"Ah, that's all right," said Asgore, dismissing the issue with a wave. "My, my, it has been such a long time since I saw the two of you together," he said, leaning back to take the two brothers in. Asriel grinned and put his arm around Kris' shoulder. Kris for his part mustered a small smile. It was more than Asgore had seen from him for the past few months. It seemed like his brother's return had given Kris an extra spurt of enthusiasm. Not that he was ever a very enthusiastic person.

"Come on, let's head inside!" declared Asgore, gesturing for the two to follow him through the diner's front door. Once inside, they slid into a booth. Asgore sat on one side and Kris and Asriel took the other, Kris making sure to sit close to the window.

"So, what have you two been up to?" asked Asgore.

"I've only been back for half a day, dad," laughed Asriel, "there's not a lot we could have done. Well," he added, "Kris did introduce me to a friend of his."

"Oh?" A new friend? This was the first Asgore was hearing of this.

"Yeah, he and his brother just moved here," explained Asriel, "he's a skeleton named Papyrus."

"Skeleton, eh?" mused Asgore. "Ah, he must be Sans' brother. I spoke to him when I popped into his store the other day. He seemed like a friendly enough fellow."

"Papyrus is certainly friendly," said Asriel. "Although he's a bit uh, exuberant. Honestly, I was kinda surprised. I didn't expect you to take to someone like that, Kirs."

Kris shrugged and ran one hand through his thick brown hair. "I like him," he said, simply.

"Fair enough," said Asriel, "he does seem like a nice guy. But yeah," he want on, turning back to Asgore, "There hasn't really been time for much else."

Asgore nodded, but before he could say anything else someone approached, casting a wide shadow over the table.

"Excuse me, you ready order?" asked a waitress. She was a heavy-set white cat-person who looked to be around Kris' age. Her makeup was rather gloomy looking.

"Oh, uh, just one moment, please," said Asgore, picking up one of the menus.

"Sure, take all the time you need," said the waitress in a flat voice. Asgore couldn't tell if she was being sarcastic or not. He decided he'd best give her the benefit of the doubt. Asriel grabbed a menu and elbowed Kris to do the same. Kris didn't bother though, instead he looked at the waitress.

"Do you have anything with chocolate?" he asked.

She raised an eyebrow, "it's all on there," she said, nodding towards the menu. "But yeah, there's milkshakes and stuff, I think. You've been here plenty of times Kris, you know what's here."

"Might've changed," muttered Kris, picking up a menu. As it happened the menu was much the same as it always had been. And as it turned out their orders were much the same as they had always been back in the day. Asgore had a large burger, Asriel an omelette with snails and Kris ordered fries. And a chocolate milkshake.

"Why this sudden urge for chocolate?" asked Asgore.

"Just felt like it," said Kris with a shrug.

"Hmm. Now then, Asriel," went on Asgore, turning to his elder son, "I want to hear all about what you've been up to. Friends, projects, everything!"

Asriel sighed. "Man, I've already had to give mum an account," he said, "at this rate I should just write a pamphlet that I can hand to people." Kris nodded in agreement.

"Oh, come now!" exclaimed Asgore, "You can't go telling your mother and then leave me in the dark."

"Heheheh, I'm kidding," chuckled Asriel. As they waited for their food Asriel set about recounting his time away. Asgore listened intently, while Kris stared blankly out the window. He had probably heard most of this already, so it was understandable. Although, one could never really be sure when Kris was listening or not. He might be looking straight at you and not hear a word, or else be on the other side of the room reading a book only to catch an entire conversation.

Asriel broke off his narrative once the food arrived, talking between bites. Eventually he seemed to be drawing to an end and began spending more and more time between sentences. He started to focus more on his food, pushing things around on the plate with his fork.

"Son? Is something the matter?" asked Asgore, after Asriel had gone silent for several minutes. There was a conflicted look on his face. Sensing the change in atmosphere, Kris shifted in his seat to look at his brother. Asriel looked around the diner, scanning the other inhabitants.

"There's, something I need to talk to you about, dad," he said. "It's, kind of important. But, not here; too many people, y'know."

Asgore set down his food, a serious look falling into place. "Whatever it is, you can tell me," he assured.

"I know," said Asriel. "It isn't a bad thing, not really. Just, a bit, tenuous I guess you could say. I'm not in trouble or anything." _Not yet at least, _his nervous eyes seemed to say. "I'll tell you later, promise."

"Well, all right," agreed Asgore.

"So, if I'm all done talking," said Asriel, brightening back up quickly, "What's been happening here?"

"Basically nothing," grunted Kris.

"That's not true," said Asgore.

"I said basically," pointed out Kris, "Nothing interesting happens here."

"Hometown isn't _that _boring," protested Asgore. "There were some renovations at the Town Hall, there's some talk about expanding the urban sector to include another block of flats, and uh..." The large monster sighed, "ok, maybe not much happens around here."

Asriel laughed. "Well, even if it's not much I'd like to hear about it," he said, "Especially what you've been up to, Dad. Anything at all, the more boring the better!"

"Very well," said Asgore, grinning, "but let it be known that I divulge all responsibility for whatever boredom may be imposed!" He gave Kris a pointed looked. The human rolled his eyes, but a smirked tugged at the corner of his mouth.

When they had finished eating and Asriel was satisfied with Asgore's recounting of things, they headed out into the street. Kris waved goodbye, saying that he had "some things to do," and crossed the street, heading south. The two boss monsters wandered the streets together, heading more-or-less in the direction of Asgore's home. They chatted idly as they went, reminiscing about when Asriel was young.

Eventually they reached Asgore's worn out store, but Asriel kept going, heading for the river. Asgore followed his son, turning over in his mind the question of what Asriel might want to tell him. He had said it wasn't a bad thing, but what sort of good thing could require such privacy? Asriel was never one to be sheepish about his doings, except when he was trying to get out of trouble.

Reaching the water, Asriel stopped, staring at the trees with their golden leaves on the opposite bank. Everautumns they were called, one the special kinds of magic tree monsters had grown in ancient times. Asgore's great-grandfather had brought them over to America over two hundred years ago, when Dreemurrs had fled in exile from Europe. Of course, that was all long since passed. Now, the trees were just another part of the landscape.

"I met someone," said Asriel, gaze drifting down to the slow, lazy river.

"Oh?" wondered Asgore. It took a few moments to click. "Oh! That kind of someone!"

"Yeah."

"Well, that's a wonderful thing to hear," said Asgore. "What're they like?"

"Amazing," said Asriel. "She's bright and fun, and she's the sweetest, kindest person I've ever met." There was a far away look in his eyes as he spoke that Asgore recognised. Or rather, remembered. "I'm always happier when I'm with her, y'know? It's like, she always brings a bit of sunshine into my day."

"She sounds like quite the young woman," said Asgore.

"Yeah," agreed Asriel. He paused, and his face contorted into a worried expression. "There's, just one thing though." Asgore raised an eyebrow. Asriel turned to look at him directly. "She's...she's human."

Asgore stared agape. He then began to stammer aimlessly, trying to find something he could possibly say to that. Nothing came to him. "H-human?" he croaked out at last, unable to find anything else to say.

"Her name's Frisk," continued Asriel, "She's lovely dad, really wonderful. She's the nicest person I've ever met, really!"

"Yes but, a human?" asked Asgore, repeating himself. "Asriel, you do know that, well, humans don't experience romance in quite the same way we do. They are...much more physical than we are."

"I know how human reproduction works, Dad," said Asriel, folding his arms. "And humans don't just love based on looks. It's not as if she doesn't feel the same way as me."

"Yes, but, Asriel I, you...what about children?" spluttered Asgore.

"What about children?" repeated Asriel. "I don't have to have kids. Besides, there are all those stories about humans and monsters that had children together."

"Yes, but those are just legends," said Asgore. "No one's ever heard of a human being able to create a child with a monster in living memory."

"Well, I don't care about that," said Asriel, looking away. "I love her," he added, sheepishly.

Asgore opened his mouth to protest, but suddenly in his mind's eye he saw this exact same conversation, at a different time, in a different place. He was standing before his father, who was looking at Asgore with a face full of astonishment and outrage. "I love her," is what Asgore had said.

"Love?" his father had asked. "Our family is too important to marry just for love! Her mannerisms are common, and her people barely have the means to keep their home standing. Why not choose anyone else but her?"

_Because, _Asgore reflected, _she was the only one I thought I could spend the rest of my life with. _He ran his hands over his head, tugging on his horns. _And I think, even now I wasn't wrong. It was just... _He let the thought fall to pieces. Asgore could feel his soul tightening in his chest and it would do no good to break down now in front of his son.

"Asriel," he said at last, "my son. I want you to be happy, you know that, don't you?" Asriel hesitated, then nodded, looking down at the ground. "And, I know better than many others that love is not always enough. I could hardly want you to turn out like me."

Asriel looked up in surprise. "What do you mean?" he asked. "Dad, you're great! I don't care if you're not rich or famous. You look out for everyone and always try to make everyone you know happy. I'd be honoured to turn out like you." The genuineness in his son's voice almost brought Asgore to tears. "But, at the same time," Asriel went on, "I know this can work. I know that it will."

Asgore sighed and hung his head wearily. "All right," he murmured. "All right," he said again, louder and with more conviction. "I suppose I had better meet her then, hadn't I?" The delight that spread across Asriel's face sent warm waves through Asgore.

"You're going to love her!" he insisted. "I uh, actually already invited her to come visit here in about a week."

Asgore blinked in surprise. "Did you now? That was pre-emptive, wasn't it?"

Asriel shrugged, "I had faith in you guys."

"Heh, well let's hope that faith won't be misplaced, eh?" Asgore stepped forward and gave Asriel a tight hug, which he returned. As they separated, the two clinked horns. "I look forward to meeting...what did you say her name was? Frisk?"

"Yeah, that's her," nodded Asriel.

"I think you had better tell me all about, Frisk, then," smiled Asgore, "I'm sure she'll colour your story very differently once she's added."

Asriel nodded. "And it'll only make it brighter."

* * *

A single golden leaf broke away from its tree. It began to drift down, slowly but surely towards the ground. It didn't make it that far before it was picked up by a gust of wind and carried to instead land on the side of a grassy mound. Kris looked down at the leaf as it landed next to him, face unmoving.

His feet dangled over the edge of the mound, kicking idly. Between them he could see a pair of double metal doors, their read paint worn and chipped away in places. The vines that had once hung in front of them were gone, but it didn't make the strange doors look any less run-down.

The wind blew again, and Kris shivered, crossing his arms tightly. It would be getting dark soon, he mused, looking up at the deep pink and purple sky. He'd have to get home on time tonight. His mum had already been worrying about him staying out so late and it wouldn't do to have someone follow him out here. Out here, where he was far enough away from the town that there was no risk that anyone could overhear them.

"Are you there?" he whispered, looking around the clearing.

"Of course I'm here," came the reply.

"I thought you might not be," Kris said, "you didn't say anything."

"I was lost in my thoughts. And I'm always around, remember?"

"Right, sorry," said Kris, "You heard what Asriel said, then?"

"Yeah. That's what I was thinking about. It's...a surprise, I suppose." Kris nodded, saying nothing. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"Dunno," admitted Kris, tugging at the grass next to him, "I suppose I'll wait and see what happens." There was silence then, apart from the occasional chirping cricket. "Sorry I don't have time for practice," said Kris at last.

"That's ok. You've had a busy day. There's always tomorrow, right?"

"Right," agreed Kris.

Another pause and: "Something **is **bothering you, isn't it?"

"I just..." Kris hesitated, not sure if he could manage if he spoke. Swallowing hard he decided to press on. "I feel so tired," he said. "I felt happy a lot today. Far more than usual. So, why is that I feel so worn out? It's like being happy was a chore or something. I know I shouldn't feel that way, but I do. And last night, I hardly felt anything at all because I just couldn't find the strength for it. Why? Why should feeling things be hard?" A part of Kris wanted to be emotional, perhaps even to cry, the weird, swirling emotions inside of him were so strong. The rest of him couldn't be bothered, but that only made the first part stronger.

There was a rustle in the grass beside him and Kris felt a comforting hand on his shoulder. "Your soul has been through a lot lately. It's only normal for you to feel a little unstable. It's ok; it will pass. You just have to give things time to heal."

"Are you sure?" asked Kris. "I mean, it's really not that different from before. I always felt tired then too."

"That was then. Remember what I told you: you'll never have to feel like that again. I'm with you always, to the end of line. That's what partners do, right? They look out for each other."

A hint of determination found its way onto Kris's face. "Right," he said, voice hard.

He sat like that for a long while, watching as the light of the first stars winked into being. Eventually though; "You need to get back home. We don't want Toriel to worry, and you need your sleep."

Kris nodded, and slipped off the edge, down to the ground. "It'll be nice to see Susie and the others again," he said.

"That's the spirit. Goodnight Kris." Before leaving he stopped and looked back. He could see eyes reflecting the twinkling light of the evening stars. Eyes, and a smile.

"Goodnight," he said, and smiled back.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

The school grounds were silent apart from a few birds. Their tweeting and the rustles they made in the trees blended into the faint background noises of the town. Normally on a Wednesday morning there would have been students bustling around, but now that summer had started the place was empty most of the time. It would have made it pretty hard to get inside if Kris's mom didn't happen to be one of the teachers.

Susie looked around while Kris used Toriel's keys to open one of the side doors. It had surprised Susie just how willing Kris had been to swipe the keys. He had always struck her as such a wussy nice guy. He almost never broke any rules, usually because he didn't do anything at all. Kris had had no apparent reluctance to break into the school though. Maybe there was a bit more of a rebel in him than Susie had first given him credit for.

The lock clicked open and Kris quietly slid inside, beckoning for Susie to follow him. The glass fronted door led into an empty hallway filled with dingy shadows. Lockers, coated in chipped green paint, stood on the right-hand side like disinterested sentinels. Once inside, Kris hurried over to a small white panel on the wall. Opening it he began punching numbers on a keypad, glancing down at a scrap of paper in his other hand.

"You uh, need me to do anything?" asked Susie.

Kris shook his head. "It's just the alarm system," he explained. It only took him a few moments to finish, his fingers darting nimbly over the buttons. Finished, Kris closed the panel and started down the dimly lit corridor. "Don't turn on any lights," he said, leaning around a corner to check the next room. "We don't want anyone passing by to notice them."

"Heh, you done this before or something?" asked Susie.

"A few times," nodded Kris.

"Wait, really?" She had only been joking. Why would Kris have been breaking into the school?

"I liked coming here to think," explained Kris. The pair wound their way through the halls. Their footsteps echoed eerily on the tiled floor.

"Why would you wanna be here?" grunted Susie, "School sucks!"

Kris said nothing. Instead, he stopped and pointed down a hallway to their right. "It's just here," he said. Following where he was pointing, Susie saw the double doors of the supply closet.

Walking up to it, the two hesitated. "Are you sure this is gonna work?" asked Susie.

"It has so far," said Kris.

"Yeah..." In truth, the whole thing still seemed kind of ridiculous to Susie. That there was a portal to another world that would appear in the school supply closet. It sounded so stupid! It was like something a kid in pre-school would come up with, that there was a magical world they could go to through their wardrobe or something dumb like that.

Half the time it wasn't even there either. Susie had ditched class several times last week to try and go through to the Darkworld, only to find that there was nothing in the closet but stationary. It was only when she was with Kris that she had been able to find the way through. She had wondered if perhaps the whole thing had been a dream, until Kris skipped class with her to go look.

Now, just like then, the door opened to reveal a deep blackness. The inside of the closet stretched back and back into an unknown space. Where that space was, was anyone's guess. It sure as hell wasn't inside of the school; there wasn't enough room.

"Ladies first," grinned Susie. Kris shrugged and stepped forward, the darkness swallowing him up. Standing there alone, with the inky black void before her, Susie couldn't help but feel unnerved. Kris seemed to have gotten used to it, but the portal was creepy. Gritting her teeth, the young monster squared her shoulders and strode forward.

Darkness wrapped itself eagerly around her. Susie heard the door click shut behind her on its own. Kris's outline was visible just an arm's length away. "I hate this part," muttered Susie. Kris made a small nod of agreement. The two of them waited, tense. Ten seconds passed, then twenty, then thirty. "Oh come on all ready!" snapped Suise. "Just hurry up and-

She was cut off by the ground collapsing under her feet, sending her and Kris plummeting into the empty void below.

* * *

His smile never shifted but, in his chest, Sans had a serious sinking feeling. He was back here again, though as usual it was a part of the complex he hadn't seen before. What was unusual was for one of his dreams to bring him here so soon after the last time. Normally he wasn't brought here more than once a week, if that, but he had been here only just yesterday. That wasn't the only strange thing. Usually the place was unlit, nearly pitch black without the light of his eye. Now the overhead lights were switched on, though they were dim.

Rows of hospital style beds cast long shadows against the walls. Beside some of them were surgical trolleys, stacked with different instruments. Every bed was neatly made, though the linens had been ruined by water dripping down on them from the ceiling. On the far side of the large chamber there was what looked like an operating table. There were slots for restraints which now sat open and unoccupied. There was also a large brown stain in the middle.

Sans gave the room a quick once over, checking under the beds, going through the different tools and looking to see if there were any documents scattered around. Finding nothing, the skeleton chose one of the three doors into the room at random. His shoes clacked on the tiled floor as he walked.

Wait, shoes? Sans looked down and found that instead of the comfy, pink slippers he normally wore, he had donned a pair of beaten up blue and white trainers. He was also wearing trousers rather than shorts and there was sweater underneath his hoodie instead of a shirt. It wasn't a big wardrobe change, but it was peculiar. _when was the last time i wore shoes? _he wondered. Years ago, probably. Back when he was still, still...still what?

Remembering the strange notes he had found last time, Sans considered. Was this a kind of time travel? That might explain why the place looked to be in slightly better shape. So, was this a memory? Had Sans' mind gone back into his past self? That seemed a bit farfetched, but it was as logical an explanation as any other. Really though, there was too little to go on.

There was a loud metallic clatter from up ahead and Sans snapped up straight, eye sockets dark. He couldn't see anything from here. Cautiously, he moved up to the next room. It was a huge chamber with a high ceiling and a yawning pit in the middle. Suspended over the pit was a bizarre kind of machine. It was like a massive animal skull made from burnished metal. Numerous pipes, tubes and cords held it up, connected to strange systems concealed high up in the ceiling. One of the machine's empty eyes seemed to be fixed on Sans as he stared.

"what the hell?" he whispered. The machine, despite its strangeness was not wholly unfamiliar to him. There was a word floating in the back of his mind: Determination. "what is determination?" Sans asked aloud, moving to face the machine head on. The notes of his past or future or alternate self, had talked about a determination type soul. Sans had studied souls and their abilities at one point in his life, but he had never heard of that kind of soul before. Or rather, he had thought he hadn't.

Determination. The word somehow filled Sans with a cold, wriggling dread. It spelled doom, death and futility, though he could not have said why. And this machine was tied to it somehow. It was for, detecting it or experimenting with it? No. It harvested it.

"DT extractor," murmured Sans, looking up into the machine's looming gaze. He had seen this machine before, that much he knew. Had he used it? Had he watched it being used? One of the two seemed probable, or even both. The extractor evoked a sense of cruelty. It was-or had been-in some way brutal. If determination was a trait of human souls, and this machine extracted it...

Sans winced as the memory of a high-pitched wail shot through him. He clutched at his chest which all of sudden was burning with a white-hot pain. He gasped frantically for air, nausea assaulting him. Staggering, Sans slumped against the wall behind him and slid down into a sitting position. He pressed one hand against his forehead and the other over his chest.

Vicious aching pain pulsed through him. It was like his skull was being pounded by a jackhammer and in the meantime, someone was trying to saw through his ribcage. Two images swirled in his throbbing head. A pale hand, reaching out from the shadows even as it melted into sludge. A pair of eyes, red and hollow staring at him. And over both of them was laughter, wild incessant laughter. Sans looked down at his right hand and saw with horror that it was covered in red. Blood seeped into his sweater from a deep gash in his chest.

Sans choked, feeling a mixture of blood and bile rise in his throat. He vomited on the tiled floor, retching violently as his body convulsed. Pain and waves of sheer intense exhaustion smashed into Sans, dragging him down towards darkness. Towards death. With a savage growl Sans ignited his eye and surged to his feet, his whole body trembling.

There, on the fire side of the room behind the extractor was a pair of eyes. They were black and dull like coal, watching him blankly. Pushing through the pain Sans scrapped together a surge of magic. Waves of bones sprouted from the ground around the eyes and a huge twisted skull materialised in the air over Sans' shoulder. He stared at it in stunned silence for a moment and then fixed a glare on the watching figure.

"who are you?" he demanded. Every part of Sans was shaking under the strain of standing up as the eyes twisted to one side. The creature spoke, but Sans couldn't hear any words; only silence came out of its mouth. It scratched at the inside of Sans' mind, scrapping at his thoughts and memories. A single one came loose, plastering itself across Sans' consciousness.

As the ground swirled into a black whirlpool of tar the memory overran his every thought. The attacks all vanished, even the strange skull, as Sans fell head over heels down into the abyss below. Even as he fell his mind was filled with one thing: a human, looming over him with glimmering red eyes and a wide, gleeful smile.

* * *

Susie sat up and rubbed at the back of her neck. The fall into the Darkworld always left her feeling sore. She wished the magical forces that opened the portal could have made it more comfortable to arrive on the other side. Standing up, she looked down and saw that, as usual, she had changed. Susie had no idea why, but when they entered the Darkworld she and Kris always looked different. Her skin had shifted from its usual purple to a bright pink. She was wearing new clothes too: a black sleeveless jacket that hung down to her knees with spiked armbands and big, metal capped boots. Susie knew from past experience that if she wanted, she could summon a magical battle axe now too. It suited her, she supposed.

"Hey Kris, you around here?" she called, scanning her surroundings. Tall, pale cliffs were all around her, forming a criss-crossing labyrinth. Deep holes were bored into the cliffs in many places, oozing a weird black sap. This was where she and Kris always ended up first when they came to the Darkworld. It didn't have a proper name, though some darkners called it the Badlands or the Wastes. That fit well enough.

"Kris!" Susie shouted, cupping her hands to make her voice louder. At first there was no sign of the human. After about half a minute though, Susie could hear quiet footsteps approaching from off to her right. Soon after Kris's unassuming figure emerged from behind a shoulder of lavender rock.

Like Susie he had changed upon entering the Darkworld. Kris was a fairly ordinary looking human in the regular world. Here his skin was light blue and his hair dark blue. He wore a steel breastplate, pauldrons, boots and gauntlets with a torn pink cape thrown over one shoulder. It might have just been Susie's imagination, but he also seemed to stand an inch or so taller when he was here too.

"There you are," she grunted. "Urgh," she groaned, looking around at the weird cliffs and slopes surrounding them. "Why couldn't we just drop down at the castle? This place sucks!"

Kris shrugged. "I suppose it's just where the door goes," he said.

"Well, come on! Let's hurry up and get to where everyone is. I don't wanna spend the whole day wandering around." Susie started to head off in the direction she thought Card Castle was in, before remembering that she didn't actually know how to get anywhere. "Uh, after you, I guess," she said, waving her hand for Kris to go first.

He nodded and silently stepped in front. It was weird how Kris always seemed to know his way around. Even the first time they came here he had gone the right way. Kris claimed that he just had a good head for directions. Susie wrote it off as just another one of the many weird things about him.

They walked in silence for a while, passing by weird bushes of white dust that exploded into clouds when you touched them. On top of the cliffs strange grey plant things swayed. Occasionally one of them would throw out a cloud of white spores and the pair would have to duck to avoid being hit. Apart from that it was all quiet. If the place wasn't still a bit creepy, Susie would have been feeling bored.

"So I, heard your brother came back from college," she said.

Kris looked over his shoulder at her, surprise evident on his face. "Yes," he said, seemingly cautious, "he arrived the day before yesterday. Why?"

"I dunno," huffed Susie, folding her arms, "I just thought that friends are supposed to talk about stuff like that."

Kris's surprise held for a moment more and then he smiled. It wasn't something he did very often, though Susie had seen him do it more these past two weeks. "I guess it is," he said, turning back to face the front. He stayed silent for half a minute, and Susie was beginning to wonder if she should try saying something else before he spoke up again. "It's nice that he's back," Kris said, "Mum and Dad both missed him."

"What about you?" asked Susie, "You don't sound too thrilled. You guys are supposed to be all about that loving family crap, right?"

"We are," said Kris, "I just...I don't know, I got used to him not being here? It feels a bit weird, knowing he's around again."

"Well, if my brother came back," started Susie, then paused, catching herself. "Actually, I'd probably just punch him in the face."

"You do that a lot," remarked Kris.

"Hey, don't knock it until you try it!" grinned Susie. Kris's only reply was a mixture between a hum and a grunt. It was one of the most non-committal responses Susie had ever heard. Kris was good at those.

Not long after they reached the steep slope that marked the end of the Badlands. In the distance Susie could make out the low walls surrounding Ralsei's Castle Town. As they both slid down to the bottom, she wondered who used to live there besides Ralsei. There was no way the little guy could have built the town by himself. Susie tried to make a mental note to ask about that once they met up with him.

Like usual the gates to Castle Town sat open. Inside there was a kind of circular town square with a brightly lit pond in the middle. The houses surrounding the square all leaned at unstable angles. It was like they were wilting flowers. In the sky above there were what looked like blue and white twinkling stars. Directly opposite the entrance a main street ran towards the stacked jumble of dark blue stone towers that was Ralsei's now abandoned castle. Behind it the western dark fountain roared upwards. It was like a massive geyser of oil that never stopped flowing. Susie tried to follow its flow to the end point, but after a while it just blended in with the black dome of the sky.

"Y'know," she began as she followed Kris around the pond, "I never really thought about how weird this place is. Like, where did it come from? Did people live here? And why do all the houses look so...bent?"

Kris paused at the entrance to the main road, turning to look at the houses. "I guess we should ask Ralsei," he said, after a while. "But, a lot of things here look strange so-

He froze mid-sentence, staring with wide eyes at Susie. "What?" she demanded, "What are you looking at?" Wordlessly Kris raised a hand and pointed over her shoulder. Apprehension prickling at her, Susie looked around. There was a glowing human-like figure standing by the pond. It was tall and willowy, but with no discernible features anywhere on its body. It didn't even have eyes. It wasn't looking at either of them, instead it seemed to be staring down into the pond.

Then, all of a sudden, the town sprang to life. Glowing figures emerged from the houses, phasing through the doors but making motions like they were opening and closing them. The weird ghost-people began walking up and down the different streets. Some stopped to look at each other, or at different buildings or the sky. It looked as if they were talking to each other, but no sound came from them. Not a single one of them seemed to pay Kris of Susie any mind.

"H-hey!" called Susie, "who are you guys, where'd you come from?" She stepped in front of one of the glowing people, trying to force them to pay attention to her. Instead of acknowledging the angry monster girl, the figure walked straight through her without breaking stride. Susie gasped, clasping both hands to her chest and spinning around to see the strange person walk on down the street.

Kris stepped back to let the figure through, eyeing them nervously the whole time. "Are, are they real?" asked Susie, looking about at the milling figures.

"I don't know," whispered Kris, "But it doesn't seem like they can see us."

"Maybe they're ghosts?" wondered Susie.

"Ghosts don't look like-

"I know what monster ghosts look like!" snapped Susie, "but, I dunno, what if these are like, darkner ghosts. Or even human ghosts!"

"Humans don't..." Kris started to speak then seemed to give up, letting the sentence die. "Whatever they are," he said, watching as three small figures chased each other around the pond, "I don't think they're dangerous."

"You think we should just leave 'em?" asked Susie, folding her arms.

Kris shrugged, "What else? We don't even know this isn't normal."

"You think they might be here all the time, and we just missed 'em."

"Could be."

"Well," grumbled Susie, stepping aside to avoid having a fat looking figure walk through her, "I guess Ralsei 'll probably know what's going on. Might as well just head to the castle." Kris nodded and the pair headed up the main street. Even though the glowing people had shown to be able to phase through them, they both weaved around to avoid touching them.

Many of the figures were huddled around the different shops they passed. Outside the weapon shop one figure with thick arms and broad shoulders looked like he was working at an invisible anvil. Approaching the castle, they could see two figures standing straight in front of the courtyard like sentries. The guards payed Susie and Kris no mind as they went by though.

Inside the courtyard the two of them stopped. "The door's open," noted Susie. Kris nodded, face blank like usual. Normally the door to Ralsei's castle was kept shut and barred from the inside. Ralsei had said he would be happy to show them around some time, but the opportunity had never presented itself. Now the heavy wooden door stood ajar. Susie exchanged a look with Kris. "You wanna go inside?" she suggested.

Kris raised an eyebrow. "We're not invited," he said.

"Yeah, but it's Ralsei's place," said Susie, "he's not gonna mind. Besides, maybe he's in there already and that's why the door's open." Kris frowned, clearly not convinced. "C'mon, what's the harm?"

Kris's eyes flicked to the side for a moment and he tensed up. Then he let out a sigh. "Sure," he said. "But don't break anything."

"Hey! It's me!" said Susie, a broad grin plastered on her face.

The inside of the castle was all pale blue and white. The ground was layered with flagstones and the walls were all plastered smooth. There were metal sconces on the walls for torches but right now there weren't any there. Banners hung down at regular intervals on the walls. They were green like Ralsei's robes and had a symbol of a winged circle and three triangles beneath it done in black and outlined in white.

"Hey, Kris," said Susie, looking at the banners, "isn't that your family's symbol?" Kris nodded, staying silent. "Actually, Ralsei looks a lot like he could be related to them, doesn't he?" Kris said nothing, staring at Susie with an expression that was tensely neutral. How you made a neutral expression tense Susie wasn't sure, but Kris tended to do it on the regular. Seeing that the human wasn't going to comment, Susie grunted and walked to the end of the first hall.

A short flight of steps led up to double doors which sat already wide open. Beyond them was a huge room, with a ceiling that stretched dozens of metres into the air before joining together in a complex of interlocking arches. Tall, narrow windows were set in the top of the walls on either side, flooding the room with the pale blue light from outside. On the ground, a green roll of carpet led to where a giant white tree was growing in the middle of the room. "Woah," was all Susie could say.

The tree had no leaves, its thick, innumerable white branches bear and skeletal. At its base mint coloured grass sprouted in a small circular lawn, before it gave way to more pale blue flagstones that surrounded it. There was nothing else in the room besides the tree. There were several doors lining the walls to the massive room. Every one of them was shut apart from one at the back of the room, behind the tree.

"Hey, Ralsei! You here?!" called Susie. Kris startled at the loud noise, which echoed all around the huge chamber.

"Shh!" he hissed, putting a finger to his lips.

"What?" asked Susie, "Are you scared of something?"

"No," said Kris, "I just...it doesn't feel right." He looked up at the towering tree.

"Why would you have a tree indoors?" wondered Susie, following his gaze. "And, is it dead or something?"

"Come on," said Kris, heading towards the door at the far end.

"Hey, what's with the rush all of a sudden?"

Kris didn't reply. Susie glanced around at the doors as they walked past. This place hadn't seemed so big from the outside. Now that they were in here things seemed to be a different story. Were there more corridors leading off from those doors? Just how big was this place?

Reaching the far door Kris hesitated before pulling it open. He took a deep breath, as if steeling himself and then yanked on the handle. The door flung open and Kris rushed in. "Hey, wait up!" called Susie, running after him.

"What's gotten into you?" she asked. Still Kris said nothing, instead looking around the new room. It was in stark contrast to the one they had left. Instead of flagstones the ground was lined with warm, wooden floorboards. There was a knitted rug thrown out in the middle of the small hall, a staircase beyond it leading down to some kind of basement. To the left and right were doorways, one leading into a cozy living room, the other into a short corridor.

"Huh, I guess this is like his house or whatever," said Susie. She jumped as a whispering voice came from her right. There were two blue, glowing flowers sitting in a vase on a chest of drawers. To her amazement Susie realised that they were making the noise.

_"Huh, I guess this is his house or whatever," _whispered the flowers in her own voice.

"Weird," muttered Susie.

"They're called echo flowers," said Kris, "They repeat the last thing they heard, over and over."

"How'd you know that?" asked Susie, taking a good step away from the two flowers and continuing to look at them suspiciously.

"I...I read it in a book," Kris said, though for some reason he didn't sound totally sincere.

"Why would Ralsei want these things here? Seems like it'd be creepy."

A small, sad smile crept over Kris's face. "He was lonely," he said, "He probably wanted someone to talk to."

"Oh." _Dam, that is kinda sad, _thought Susie. "Maybe, maybe we should go," she said after a while. "Ralsei's not here. We can ask him about the weird glowing people when we get to Card Castle."

"Just let me check one thing," said Kris. He went down into the hallway on the right. On the left there were three doors as well as several more echo flowers in pots and vases. At the far end was a large mirror hanging on the wall. Stepping close to one of the flowers, Susie listened.

_"Nice day today," _it whispered in Ralsei's voice.

_Yeah, that sounds about right, _she thought.

Slowly, almost cautiously, Kris opened the first door. The room inside was a faded red that contrasted starkly with the rest of the castle. A small bookshelf and a wardrobe sat against the opposite wall. There was a bed on either side of the room, both neatly made, and another woven rug in the middle between them.

The bed on the right was piled around with different stuffed animals, and there were pictures on the wall above it. Some of them were crude ones done in crayon, but the higher up the wall Susie looked, the fancier the pictures got, until they were watercolour paintings. Every picture was a landscape showing somewhere in the Darkworld, though most of them showed some part of Castle Town.

The second bed had nothing like that. Not so much as a cheap teddy bear sat on it and the layer of dust that rested on the covers made it look like it hadn't been slept in in a long time, if ever. There was only one picture above it: a drawing in crayon of a yellow flower. Apart from that the left side of the room was a bare wasteland.

Not feeling very comfortable about poking around in Ralsei's bedroom, Susie turned to leave. "C'mon Kris," she said, "this is weird." Kris didn't move an inch. "Hey, didn't you hear me?" asked Susie, turning back to put a hand on the human's shoulder. "We shouldn't go snooping through Ralsei's stuff like this; it's creepy."

Kris still didn't respond. His jaw was clenched tight, his face was tense with a strange emotion and his eyes were locked to the far wall. Following them Susie saw that he was staring at the drawing of a flower. To her surprise, a single tear rolled down his cheek. "Kris?" she asked, voice softening a little, "you ok?"

The human shook himself, whipping the tear away hastily. "Yeah, I'm fine," he said, "You're right, we should go. There's nothing here we should see anyway." Pushing past Susie, Kris hurried back out into the corridor.

She was about to follow him, when Susie noticed a single small echo flower in a pot. It sat on the floor next to the abandoned bed. Susie hesitated a moment and then bent down next to the flower to listen. Ralsei's voice came from the flower:

_"I promise, whatever happens, I won't forget you."_

* * *

**So, we finally get to see the Darkworld and Susie. I was actually a bit reticent about working with Susie before I started, but after writing a few chapters with her, I'm starting to find her pretty fun to work with. Thanks to 'RealEdgeQuarter' and 'offbrandbiscuit' for our first reviews; it's really encouraging to see people engaged with the story. Hope you enjoyed Chapter 4!**


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

There weren't a lot of growing things in Card Castle. Apparently, the Kings had always objected to them as they clashed with the place's aesthetic. Ralsei was of a different mind. All the dark coloured walls were dreary anyways, so what was the aesthetic even worth? It hadn't been too hard to bride Lancer into letting him start a small garden. The exact price had been a batch of snail flavoured cookies. Ralsei had never seen someone tuck into them so eagerly before.

Most of the plants were flowers, bright red and yellow ones from the Field and Forest. A small red bush sat in the centre of the garden, round white stones laid around in it a circle. Ralsei had even planted an echo flower in the back. Every day he'd walk up to it and listen to it say "good morning" as he watered it. Then he'd reply, prepping the flower for tomorrow. Apart from that Ralsei had found a strange climbing plant that sprouted white flowers shaped like little bells. He was trying to encourage it to grow up and around the entranceway.

Right now, Ralsei was lightly watering some deep pink flowers the jigsawries had given him. They really were sweethearts once you got to know them, he reflected. He was interrupted by a loud crashing sound from out in the hall. Poking his head around the corner, Ralsei saw Lancer sprawled on the floor.

"Are you ok?" he asked, hurrying over.

Lancer bounced to his feet easily enough and shook himself. "Not really," he said with a cheery smile, "I fell through a hole banged my face on the floor!" Ralsei looked up and saw that there was a hole in the ceiling above them. It must have been one of those that hadn't been filled in yet. There were so many of them around the Castle that it had been hard to get to them all.

"You want me to heal you?" asked Ralsei.

"Nah! I was on my way down anyway!" said Lancer, rubbing his nose. "I've got some terrific news!"

"Really?" Ralsei could sure do with some good news. The Knight had been putting him on edge. Ralsei really could not wait for him to leave again and go back to whatever strange place he came from.

"Yeah!" nodded Lancer, "People are saying that the Western Fountain opened up again. A Starwalker Bird says it saw two people going into your old house. It must be Susie and Kris!"

"Oh, then they've come back again?" said Ralsei, "That is good news." He paused and an expression of shock took over his face as a thought struck him. "Wait, no!" he cried, "That's not good news at all! If they've come back, then that means they'll be coming here!"

"Yeah, so?" asked Lancer, not seeing the problem.

"The Knight is out on the Great Board inspecting things!" exclaimed Ralsei. "Lancer, if he finds them..."

"Oh. Oh no." Lancer's face fell off a cliff as he caught up to Ralsei's train of thought. "He's not gonna be very happy, is he?"

"The Knight hates lightners," said Ralsei, eyes wide. "If he finds Kris and Susie he'll...he'll kill them!"

* * *

Kris was silent all the way back through the castle. Susie looked over at the many closed doors lining the huge tree-hall but thought better of it. It wasn't like Kris was intent on stopping anyway. He strode on, out through the entrance hall, into the courtyard and on towards the Great Door. Once they were on the other side the path changed to a rich purple. Sporadic trees with twisted trunks and squarish red leaves lined either side of it. Thick, scrubby violet grass sprouted in patches at the path's edges and at the bases of the trees.

Not slowing down, Kris marched on, taking every turn with complete confidence, even though in many places the path intersected with others and twisted back on itself. Strangely, Susie noticed that there didn't seem to be any darkners around so far. This was still a fair ways away from Card Castle and the city, but usually someone would have showed up by now. This especially sucked because it meant there was nothing that might break the intense silence between her and Kris.

Finally, Susie gritted her teeth and doubled her pace to overtake the human. "Hey, Kris" she barked, interposing herself between him and the path forward. He stopped and looked up at her. His face was blank, but Susie could see faint rims around his eyes from where he'd been crying. That took her aback for a moment; she hadn't even noticed.

Kris leaned to look around Susie, as if considering if it was worth it to just try and go around her. In the end he drew back, apparently resigning himself. "What?" he asked, voice low.

"Are you...ok?" grunted Susie. "It seemed like something back there really bothered you. I mean," she added hastily, "it's not like I'm trying to go soft on you or anything but, friends are supposed to look out for each other and crap like that, right?"

Kris locked eyes with her, almost defiantly. "I'm fine," he insisted, "it was nothing."

"No it wasn't!" growled Susie. "We've not been friends for that long Kris, but I've seen you at school for years now. You don't cry over nothing, Kris!"

Kris stiffened like Susie had slapped him in the face. "I didn't," he hissed, "I didn't cry!"

"Bullcrap, I saw you!" huffed Susie. She clamped her hands down on the human boy's shoulders, gripping them tightly. "Something's bothering you, Kris, and you're gonna tell me, so I can go do something about it! Preferably by beating the crap out of someone, because goddamit, that's what friends are supposed to do!"

Kris stared at her; eyes widened in shock. "Ugh, sorry," grunted Susie, letting go of him, "I suck at this kind of thing."

"No! I mean, uh," Kris broke off and stopped, taking a slow breath. "I just, didn't really expect that. And, you're right," he said, "You're being a good friend, Susie. I'm the one screwing up: I shouldn't be making you worry."

"Worried? I-I'm not worried," said Susie, folding her arms and looking away.

A smile briefly found its way onto Kris's face. "Of course not," he said. He let out a long sigh before continuing. "But really, it wasn't that big of a deal. The room just...reminded me of something I guess."

"Something to do with your brother?" asked Susie.

"No, that's not-" Kris caught himself and stopped. "Yeah, kind of," he admitted. The two of them were quiet for a while, not looking at each other. A strange Darkworld bird with two pairs of wings flew past overhead.

"Look," began Susie, "I know I'm not very good at this whole 'feelings' thing. But, if you need to talk to someone, I guess I can try it, y'know?"

Kris smiled, though it looked a bit forced. "Thank you, Susie," he said, "but I'm ok. I promise."

"Well, ok then." Again there was quiet between them.

"Do you, want to keep going?" asked Kris, eventually.

"Huh? Oh, yeah, right," nodded Susie, "we should do that." They set off again, but the tense atmosphere between them seemed to have waned. After a little while Kris started remarking on the things they passed by. He always had these weird comments and descriptions, and while Susie rolled her eyes at half of them, the other half were kind of funny. At least Kris seemed more like himself again.

* * *

Sans had expected to find himself in bed when his eyes opened. Instead, he was greeted by the raggedy grey bark of a gnarled tree. With a small gasp he sat up straight and looked around. There were grey trees all around him, packed so tightly that in some places their branches had fused together. He had been sleeping with his back to one of them.

Looking down, Sans found to his relief that he was no longer bleeding. Pulling up the sweater that he was still wearing, he found that there was no sign he had ever been hurt at all. "what the hell was that?" he muttered, getting to his feet. A mild ache ran through his head as he did so, apparently the only trace of the ordeal he just went through. "still in the same clothes," he noted. Though, what that meant he honestly didn't know.

There was snow in patches on the ground, seemingly having filtered through the dense canopy of the trees. "where am i?" he asked aloud. Naturally, no one answered. There was never anyone to answer Sans' questions. Up until now, his little night-time escapades had never taken him to any place but the lab complex. This snowy forest was a radically new addition. Although, there didn't seem to be much here.

Rank upon rank of grey trees stretched in every direction, seemingly without end. Nothing else grew between the trees, not even grass. The light itself was pale and dim and Sans' assumed that if he had had skin, he would have been extremely cold. The forest might have been new, but it was no less eerie than the lab. There was just a lot less here.

Tucking his hands in the pockets of his hoodie, Sans picked a random direction and started walking. He weaved his way through the trees, which seemed to only sprout branches well above head height. It at least made it easier to get past them. Row after row, there were always more trees, and after many minutes of walking Sans could make out no end to them.

He stopped and huffed in annoyance. "whoever's showin' me this, it ain't that helpful," he grumbled. What could he possibly find here, in this dead silent wilderness?

As if in response to his thoughts there was loud snapping sound from somewhere far off. Turning in the direction of the noise Sans strained his eyes, trying to make out anything that differed from the lines of gnarled trees. There. There was a dark shape moving about several hundred feet away. Unlike the thing with the empty eyes Sans had seen earlier, he felt no unease seeing this thing. _which is odd, _he thought, _cause seeing a mysterious figure in the middle of a spooky forest ought to be sending chills down my spine._

Deciding not to call out, Sans began to pick his way toward the shape. As he got closer, he squinted, trying to discern its appearance. It didn't seem like there was much to discern though; it was dark and almost amorphous. The thing was a splodge of black in between the pale trees.

Suddenly there was a rustling and the thing began moving away from Sans. "hey, wait a sec!" he called, and the thing paused. At this point they were about a hundred feet away from each other. "uh, wassup?" asked Sans, not sure what to say to whatever or whoever this was.

"Follow," came a voice, husky like a whisper. It rippled through the air like a soft breeze, and if the creature hadn't immediately begun to move away again, Sans might have thought he was imagining it. Seeing no other way to progress, Sans obeyed, picking his way around trees after the strange creature. It moved faster than him but stopped every few minutes to give Sans time to catch up. Once the gap had shrunk enough, it repeated its instruction and kept going.

Finally, Sans could make out something between the trees in the distance. As he got closer, he realised it was a wall of purple rock, looming up above the trees and out of sight. Upon reaching the wall the creature turned to the left and began to follow it. Sans went diagonal, cutting off part of the distance. He reached the wall and ran his hand over it as he walked.

The stone was smooth, but in a natural way, like it had been carved out by water. Or maybe it had been volcanic activity? Sans had never been especially good at geology. Well, he assumed he hadn't: he was pretty terrible at it now at least. There were wavy patterns in the rock that suggested layers but, he wasn't sure what that would mean. It would depend, he thought, on whether the rock was formed via catastrophic or non-catastrophic processes. Sans seemed to recall a friend had once told him that most major rock formations were at least laid down by earthquakes, volcanoes or floods. Steady erosion tended to come in afterwards. Odd, that he could remember that but not the friend's name, or what they looked like. Or anything about them, really.

The dark creature rounded a corner in the rock and disappeared. Sans tried to quicken his pace a little, not wanting to be left behind. He broke out of the trees to find an extremely small clearing. The forest hemmed in close on one side while on the other loomed a large, natural cave entrance, burrowed through the purple rock. Down a long, dark passage, Sans could see the creature waiting.

It might have been humanoid. At the least it was height of a tall human. All of its body was covered up by a long, dark blue cloak, which was what had made it look so strange. Sans couldn't see anything under the hood at this distance. "Follow," it said again, before turning and passing on into the darkness of the deep cave. Gritting his teeth, Sans ignited his eye and strode after it.

The tunnel wound up and down, left and right. At many points it grew uncomfortably tight, while at others it was large and spacious. Several times it branched off in two or more directions, but every time the cloaked figure was there to show Sans the way. He tried several times to talk to it without success. Either it was dead silent and kept walking, or it just repeated its command "Follow" and moved on.

Sans could feel that his feet were getting sore from all the walking. _sure do miss when my sleep didn't have dreams, _he thought. When had that last been? As with much else, he couldn't remember. _sleep's supposed to more restful than being awake, not less! _he complained.

There was sudden splash and Sans stopped, looking down. He hadn't noticed but there was a stream flowing through the cave. He had walked right into it. Looking back up he saw the cloaked figure on the opposite bank. "Come," it said, voice echoing slightly in the confines of the cave, "come and behold the Angel."

"angel?" wondered Sans. The figure said no more, turning away to vanish down a pitch-black passage. Hastily, Sans splashed across the stream to dry rock and followed it.

After only a few moments he realised that in the distance he could see a light. Soon after that the tunnel opened up into a larger cave. The sun streamed in through a small hole in the roof far above. It was such a long way that the hole looked like it had been stuck with a pin. In the small patch of sunlight the hole spilled on the cave floor, grass was growing. On the opposite side of the chamber an archway led into yet another room. The cloaked figure stood in the doorway. It beckoned Sans with an invisible hand. Cautiously, Sans followed.

The next room looked to be the last, having no exits. Here there was another hole in the ceiling, much larger this time, so that nearly the entire chamber was bathed in sunlight. Not only had grass grown here, but brilliant yellow flowers too. The cloaked figure stood on the far side of the flowers, hunched over and staring at the ground. "Come," it said again.

Up until this point the figure hadn't actually bothered Sans. But now, there was something in the air that pricked at him. A sensation like a hundred tiny spiders crawled up his back. He took a few cautious steps forward to try and see just what the figure was looking at. There didn't seem to be anything, just yellow flowers. Sans squatted down next to them, trying to see if perhaps there was something under them. Nothing. Nothing but dirt and grass.

"so uh, where's this angel?" Sans asked, looking up at the cloaked figure. He had only just raised his head when something lashed out and grabbed him by the throat.

"This, is the angel," came the whispering voice.

Up from the soil had come a human hand with pale, creamy skin and delicate fingers. Those same, soft fingers were now clutching Sans in a vice-like grip. The intense hate in the hold was so strong that Sans could feel it trying to crack his fragile soul. He tried to cry out, though whether in surprise, fear or anger he couldn't tell. He failed either way. The hand pulled sharply and threw him to the ground as something hauled itself out of the earth. Yellow petals, small stones and sods of turf showered around Sans. The hand let go and Sans scrambled backwards, watching with blacked out sockets.

A figure stood, swaying slightly. They weren't tall, their build was slim and their clothes a plain green and yellow sweater with brown pants. It was all so unassuming, and yet the silhouette they cast standing there with the rays of the sun pouring down around them made Sans' soul race. For a second he thought it was the human from Hometown, but as he looked, he saw small differences. This human was shorter-maybe by an inch or two-and their skin was lighter, more pristine. There was a delicate curve to their hips and chest that suggested femineity. Above all, as the human looked down at him, Sans could see that she had a kind of life in her gleaming red eyes that Kris did not.

Sans found himself frozen as those eyes took him in. His chest ached as the human-no, whatever this was-tore him apart with her gaze. A fear so deeply forgotten and suppressed that it almost seemed primal wriggled inside of him. The expression on the thing's face shifted as she seemed to recognise him. Surprise for a brief moment, quickly changing to an intense hatred. Her gaze was almost enough to kill Sans then and there, so fierce was her loathing.

"I was right then," she said, voice smooth but at the same time intense and grading. "You knew something was up, didn't you? And now, you're on my track, determined in your own little way to ruin everything. Well, Sansy, I have news for you." A manic smile spread over her features, distorting them. Something flashed in the sunlight, and Sans noticed for the first time that there was long bladed knife in the creature's right hand.

"You, miserable little comedian," she continued, taking a step towards him, "I won't let you ruin this for me. Every effort I've made has been turned to dust, but not again!" She took another step forward, putting herself almost within reach of him. Sans found he was frozen, though if that was just the nature of the dream or if it was with real fear he couldn't tell. "I'll make you suffer a thousand deaths until you can't even remember what it's like to live without pain!"

She darted forward like a striking snake, closing the distance in less than a second. Sans was flung down onto his back as she planted a knee in his chest, the shimmering knife blade moving to within a hair's breadth of his face. Her eyes sunk back into her head, her mouth splitting unnaturally wide. Dark ooze flowed down her cheeks and from her mouth, as if her face was melting.

**"So how about you just forget all this, hmm?" **Her voice gurgled as dark blood rose from her throat. **"Just go back to being the lazy, worthless piece of garbage we both know you are. Give up! Give up, and forget, EVERYTHING!"**

The knife jabbed down.

* * *

"I don't get it," said Susie, "Where the hell is everyone?" The two of them had crossed the Field nearly all the way to the Great Board, and not seen a single darkner. There were signs that they had been here. An overturned table, the occasional set of scuffed tracks and a pair of discarded hats all presented themselves. Yet they offered no explanation.

"It's like they all left before we got here," said Kris, eyes trained on the distant shape of the black gate. Beyond the gate was the great board, and after that the forest. From there it was only a short way to Card Castle.

"Why would they do that?" asked Susie. "Is there some kind of dark festival or something?" Kris stared at thin air, eyes unblinking and said nothing. "Ah whatever," grumbled Susie, throwing her hands in the air, "Let's just keep going. There's gotta be people around in the Forest, right?" She started forward, heading towards the gate.

"No," said Kris. If it wasn't for how quiet the Field was with no one around, Susie might not have heard him.

"What?" she asked, stopping and turning back, "What do you mean, "no"? There's a whole bunch of darkners there; they can't have all left."

"No, I mean, I don't think there's a festival or something," said Kris, shaking his head. There was a haunted look in his eyes, and Susie noticed that he had stuck the fingers of his left hand into his belt. That was where he drew his magic sword from. "This all like...like something I heard about once," he finished, not meeting her gaze.

"What the hell are you talking about Kris?" Susie folded her arms, the spiked bracelets around her wrists clinking together, "What's it like?"

"Like they've been evacuated," said Kris. "I think they ran away from something."

"What, like an earthquake or something?"

"No." Kris shook his head again, "It's like they were running away from us."

"That's dumb!" scoffed Susie, rolling her eyes and looking away. "Everyone here knows us now. I mean, I know I can be pretty scary," she added, grinning, "but I made up with everyone the last two times we were here. You're just letting this place spook you is all."

"...maybe," said Kris, but he didn't sound convinced.

"Oh just come on!" growled Susie, grabbing Kris by the wrist and giving him a sharp tug forwards. "There's no point just hanging around here. Let's go!"

"Ok, ok," agreed Kris, tugging lightly for Susie to let go of him. She did, though only once he had started walking forwards on his own. She was finding the sudden emptiness of the Darkworld a bit creepy. Besides she was right; there was no point staying here.

The two of them trooped forward to the black, iron-bar gate, only to find that it was shut. Ever since their first trip to the Darkworld the gate had been open. Now it seemed like the darkners had shut it behind them on their way out. "What'd they do that for?" grumbled Susie. "Ah, whatever! You still remember how to solve the puzzle to open it, right Kris?"

She turned and found the human staring at the grid with its two pressure plates with a blank expression. "Susie," he began, speaking slowly, "there were two blocks here before. Now they're gone."

"Huh? Did you need them to solve it?"

"Yes. The blocks go on the switches and that triggers the door," Kris explained, "But it looks like they took the blocks away when they shut the gate."

"Wait, wait," Susie said, holding up both hands, "do you mean you can't open the gate?"

Kris frowned. "I don't know," he admitted, "Maybe if we stood on the switches?" He stepped onto the giant white button nearest to him and motioned for Susie to come over. Still only half following along, Susie walked over and stood on the second switch. It clicked into the ground. Nothing happened.

"My switch didn't go," said Kris, squatting down on the plate to get a closer look. Unlike Susie's, the pressure plate Kris was standing on still stuck out of the ground. "I don't think I'm heavy enough," mused Kris.

"Heh, too much of weenie?" snarked Susie.

Kris scowled at her, then went back to focusing on the puzzle. "I don't think it matters anyway," he said, standing back up. "Both switches need to stay down for the gate to stay open, I think. As soon as we moved it would close again."

"Well, then how'd they get rid of the blocks?" asked Susie.

"What?" Kris looked at her in bewilderment.

"Y'know," Susie went on, starting to worry if she was being stupid, "if they went through with the blocks then the gate would've shut. So how'd they get through with the blocks?"

"That's...a good question actually," said Kris, rubbing his chin and looking around the clearing.

"Well, duh!" snorted Susie, "It's me!"

Kris noticeably raised an eyebrow at that but said nothing. Instead he walked over to the gate and began looking around. "There!" he exclaimed suddenly and pointed through the bars to something on the other side. Following where he was pointing, Susie spotted two large brown cubes that looked like giant bricks sat in the purple grass on the other side. They lay haphazardly, one on its side, like they had just been tossed there. "They threw them over," explained Kris.

"But then, did they climb?" wondered Susie, looking up at the sharp spikes that lined the top of the gate.

"Maybe but, then they would have hidden the blocks," said Kris. "If they were just left there then, whoever shut the gate is probably-

"-still on this side of it," finished Susie. Suddenly, the silence of the Field seemed to be growing. The quiet was like a suffocating blanket wrapping itself around her. Susie's soul began to pulse a bit faster, and she gripped one of the bars of the gate in a tight fist. A soft metallic rustle sounded behind the two of them and as one they span around.

A person had appeared, blocking the path back to the rest of the Field. They weren't any darkner Susie had ever seen before. They stood tall, taller than her, taller than Kris's Mom, taller even than Lancer's Dad. A dark purple cloak hung from their shoulders, hiding their body from view. They wore a gleaming silver helmet like some kind of fairy-tale knight, and she could see that their boots matched.

"So, you have come," they said. His voice was deep and echoed inside of his helmet. "You, accursed children of the Light. You have come back to trouble this land."

"We don't know what you're talking about," said Susie, bearing her teeth, "Who the hell are you, anyway?"

"My name matters not," he said, "I am the Knight, Champion of the Dark. I am bound by solemn oaths to bring about the destruction of your world."

"You're the one who opened the fountain," said Kris.

"Indeed, t'was I," said the Knight, his head dipping in a small bow. "As I thought you are no strangers to our land. First you strike down this land's king, then you return to sow more chaos. Seek you now his son, do you?"

Susie struggled for a moment to understand the Knight's archaic speech. "Wait, you mean Lancer?" she asked. "What the hell are you talking about! He's my friend!"

"Friend? Then the hour of my coming is later than I deemed," said the Knight, seeming to speak mostly to himself. "Regardless of how far the betrayal may run, you two shall go no further," he said, refocusing on Kris and Susie. "The Light has no place in this world. Soon, it shall have no place in yours, either." He took a step forward and the air around him seemed to shimmer with malice.

"You wanna fight, tin-head?!" snarled Susie, manifesting her axe in one hand. Beside her Kris took a step back and to the side and drew his sword, holding it point up with both hands.

"A fight?" wondered the Knight. "Nay, this shall be naught but a slaughter."


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

There was a loud flapping noise, like sheets on a washing line caught in a strong wind, as the Knight spun and whipped his cloak off. It came flying towards Kris, who slashed at it with his sword. The fabric tangled around his weapon. Cursing silently he tried to shake it off.

**"Get back!"**

Without a moment's hesitation Kris leapt backwards, barely in time to avoid a series of slashes. The air whined as what seemed like a dozen flashing blades sliced it apart. It was a whirlwind of movement, that pulled backwards as soon as Kris was out of range. Kris flung the cloak aside and tried to focus back on the Knight.

While he had worn the cloak the Knight had given off the impression of at least looking like a human. Now that he'd cast it aside it became painfully obvious that he was not one. His body was lithe and slender, his spine curving to an unnatural degree to end in an abnormally long neck. Not one, but two pairs of arms extended from either side of his chest, the hand of each one holding a glittering sword. A tail, long, thin and covered by overlapping plates swished between his legs, and that too had a blade on the end of it.

His entire body was covered from head to toe in brilliant metal plates, with only the smallest of gaps visible at the joints. The armour shimmered as thin, elegant ridges running along the plates reflected the light. Fluting, Kris had heard it was called once. The armour was a thing of immense and terrifying beauty, as were the four bright swords in the Knight's hands. If it had been just an exhibit in a museum Kris would have been staring at it in wonder. As it was, the sight set his heart racing in anticipation.

"You move fast, human," said the Knight, raising his swords, "Yet it would be well for you to move faster." He zipped forward in a brilliant flash, easily ducking under a swing from Susie and thrust two swords forward. Kris twisted his own sword, parrying the two thrusts to the left, while at the same time stepping around them to the right. Before he could begin to feel pleased with his reaction time, the other two swords were slashing down towards his head. Having no other way to evade Kris threw himself backwards wildly, landing on the ground in a heap.

He looked up in time to see the Knight jump back, dodging an attack from Susie. "You ok, Kris?" she asked, glancing over her shoulder at him. Stifling a rapidly mounting panic, Kris nodded and scrambled back to his feet.

**"Sorry, I didn't call that. He's, very fast."**

_Yeah, I noticed, _Kris thought back, grimacing.

The Knight twirled all four of his swords in an elaborate flourish, then dropped back into guard. He held the upper swords forward in a defensive posture, while the lower ones he kept back, ready to lash out. His tail swished as he bounced slightly on his heels. Then with a rush of air and a flash of steel he attacked again. Two swords against Susie, two swords against Kris. Susie knocked one out of the way but was clipped in the shoulder by the other. Rather than passively hold back and take the blows, Kris darted forward, sliding himself in past one strike and parrying the other. With the human having moved inside of his guard the Knight pulled back.

**"Jump!"**

Kris jumped, the Knight's bladed tail slashing at the human's legs as he withdrew. The warning had come just in time and Kris dodged safely.

"Screw talking!" roared Susie, taking her hand away from the gash on her shoulder. "I'm gonna smash that stupid armour right off of you!" She charged forward and hacked at the Knight who slipped neatly to one side.

Kris bolted in just in time to deflect a slash aimed at Susie's head. He then ducked low and tried to stab into the Knight's inner thigh, where the plates briefly gave way to dark, burnished mail. A lower arm parried and twisted the thrust with such force that Kris struggled to hold onto his sword.

**"Left!"**

Kris tucked into a roll and went left, leaving one of the swords to slash at the purple grass where he'd been. Coming up Kris made a wild swing, aimed roughly for one of the Knight's right arms. At the same time Susie swung down at him from the other side. Elegantly the Knight parried both attacks and this time Kris took a hit in retribution, the tail blade slicing the outside of his left thigh.

Hissing in pain, Kris backed up. Taking a frantic moment he looked around the clearing. The Knight had positioned himself very deliberately; with the gate shut he was blocking the only way out. There was nowhere they could try and flee to. The fight had barely lasted a minute, and already it was obvious that he and Susie were no match for the Knight. He seemed totally at ease, moving gracefully like a dancer.

_Any ideas? _he asked.

**"I can't see any ACT options for him. I don't think you can beat him without fighting."**

_...if we die, will I still be able to-_

**"Stop. You need to have more confidence than that. You won't die."**

Kris had no time to express his doubts as the Knight tore towards them.

* * *

All around Ralsei there seemed to be panic. People ran this way and that, in groups and in singles. Most seemed to be trying to get to Card Castle, but a few appeared to be looking for friends, family or possessions. Regardless of each person's direction, all the Forest was in uproar.

"Hey, where, where is everybody going?" he cried, trying to make himself heard over the din. Nobody seemed to notice him, everyone being too focused on their worries. "What's going on?!" he shouted, trying again, and again there seemed to be no effect.

At his side, Lancer looked around nervously. "They sure seem to all be pretty freaked out," he said. He had to raise his voice to be heard, even though Ralsei was standing right next to him.

"Yeah, but-

Ralsei was interrupted as a hathy collided with him. Both darkners were knocked completely off balance, and the world spun for a moment as Ralsei tumbled to the ground. There was a squawk from underneath him as the heart shaped darkner flailed its tentacles in the air. "Sorry, sorry," stammered Ralsei. The two scrambled to untangle themselves and Ralsei was left feeling around for his glasses which had been knocked off in the fall. His paw closed around them and to his relief he found that they seemed to be undamaged. Putting them back on he saw the hathy looking down at him in embarrassment.

"I am clumsy," it hissed, sheepishly.

"Th-that's ok," said Ralsei, smiling as he got to his feet. "But, can you tell us, where is everyone going? What's happening?"

"I am surprised you don't know," hissed the hathy. "I am told that dangerous lightners are coming. I am thinking that we all should hide in the Castle."

"Dangerous?" gasped Ralsei, incredulous.

"Susie's cool enough to be dangerous," cut in Lancer.

"Who said they were dangerous?" asked Ralsei, ignoring Lancer.

The hathy looked between the two princes awkwardly. "I am sure it was the Knight," it hissed, "I am told he went to stop them."

"Oh no," whispered Ralsei, clasping a paw over his mouth. "How could he have known about Kris and Susie? They could only have arrived a few hours ago!"

"I am...not sure?" hissed the hathy. "I am of the understanding that the Knight is in charge, yes?"

"No! No, no, no," insisted Ralsei, shaking his head wildly, "Lancer's in charge."

"I am, sorry, your majesty," hissed hathy, bowing to the young spade. "I am, a-afraid, of the Knight, though. I am aware that he is very large and scary."

"It's cool," said Lancer, "I think he's pretty terrifying too!"

"Thanks for your help," said Ralsei, "do you know where the Knight was going to try and fight the Lightners?"

"I am not sure," sighed the hathy, dipping its head forward a little. "I am sure it would be that way though," it added, brightening up a little and pointing with a tentacle in the direction of the Field.

"Thank you! Come on, Lancer," called Ralsei, taking off at a run. Lancer looked about in confusion for a moment before summoning his flaming bike. Well, it wasn't actually flaming at the moment because Lancer hadn't had time to set it on fire. He peddled after Ralsei as quickly as he could, leaving the hathy behind, watching them go with a worried frown.

* * *

Kris panted through clenched teeth and held his side. The world seemed hazy and his head pounded, the lights in the sky of the Darkworld multiplying into a spinning array. All over his body he could feel stinging pains from a dozen wounds. Looking down at his hand Kris saw that the tips of his fingers were coated bright red. The blood was thin, running quickly across his skin. In other places it had begun to dry and grow sticky.

Susie was next to him, also covered in cuts. Because as a monster her cuts did not bleed, Kris thought she looked even worse off than he did. Her wounds were splits and holes in her flesh, like she was a piece of paper that had been ripped and torn around the edges. Susie still held her axe, scowling defiantly at the enemy. Her arms were shaking though, the many hits she'd suffered having drained her strength off like a single glass of water into an entire beach of sand.

The Knight watched the two of them with perfect calm. He flicked one of his swords idly, sending drops of blood flying off. They sprayed over the purple grass, tainting it with flecks of dark red. "I can see that you were, determined," he said, looking Kris up and down. "But if I am to be frank, I must say that I had hoped for more. Truly, you lightners are pathetic creatures."

"Fuck you," growled Susie. "We never did anything to you! What kind of psycho do you have to be to just attack people like this?!"

"Your kind are the bane of my people," said the Knight, his voice hard. "We have suffered for years under your heel. I say to thee, no more!" There was a long, tense silence.

Kris tightened his jaw and hefted his sword back up into a guard position. The blood on his hand made the grip slippery. He narrowed his gaze in an effort to block out the swirling lights and the constant pounding in his ears

_So much for not dying, _he thought, bitterly.

**"...It'll be ok."**

Kris smirked. He would have laughed, but the pain it would have sent through his chest would have been too much. His sword shook as he held it.

The Knight struck like a sleek, silver shark after a wounded seal. Kris was so exhausted he wasn't even able to move his sword.

* * *

. . .

*It seems you have reached an end.

*Would you like to try again?

[Yes] [No]

[Yes] [**No**]

. . .

*But it refused.

* * *

"What'd they do that for?" grumbled Susie. "Ah, whatever! You still remember how to solve the puzzle to open it, right Kris?"

She turned and found the hum-

**"Oh thank God!"**

Kris looked up from the puzzle, eyes wide with astonishment. He grabbed frantically at his arms, his legs, his chest, his sides, checking to make sure that everything was intact. It was all there; he was unhurt. _I can still...come back? _he wondered.

**"It, it appears so."**

"Hey, uh, Kris, are you ok?" asked Susie. She was looking at him like he'd gone out of his mind.

Kris nodded, putting a hand to his forehead. "I'm fine, Susie," he said. "But, I don't think I can solve this puzzle anymore." He spoke slowly, looking around the clearing. The Knight must still be here somewhere, waiting to emerge to cut them off. There was no hiding place that Kris could see, not even so much as a shrub.

"What do you mean you can't solve it?" demanded Susie. "You managed it fine the first time we came through here. It took you like, ten seconds!"

"The puzzles been broken," Kris explained, taking a tentative step towards the entrance to the clearing. Maybe they could make a run for it. "We should try looking for another way around." As he went Kris felt the empty black space beyond the grass watching him like a predatory animal. The Knight had to be here, there was no other way he could have caught them last time.

"I didn't think there was another way around," grunted Susie. She was looking at Kris strangely, but didn't seem to have picked up on the reason for his erratic behaviour. She, of course, didn't remember what had happened the first time.

"There might be," said Kris, willing desperately for Susie to follow him out of the clearing. "We should go and look at least."

Susie stared intently at him, her eyes piercing from under her thick fringe. Susie was a strange kind of smart, Kris reflected. She wasn't good with numbers, or puzzles, or designing, or even talking. But she was good with people. Specifically, she was good at telling when people were lying to her. "What's wrong?" she asked.

"We're not safe here," said Kris. Giving up on the pretence of sneaking out past the Knight he spoke fast, hoping to override any reluctance Susie might have with a sense of urgency. "Come on, we have to go!" Beckoning for her to follow him, Kris darted towards the other side of the clearing.

"Kris, wait what do you-urk!" A wheezing choke escaped Susie's throat, cutting her off.

Kris span around, skidding to a sudden stop. Two gleaming steel swords had passed through Susie's throat, with two more through her chest. The Knight loomed up behind her, a dark form, still covered by his cloak. Susie's eyes were trained on Kris, her expression one of shock, horror and fear. A cold spear pierced Kris in the chest.

Slowly, the Knight turned the blades jammed through Susie's neck, slicing like a pair of scissors. They tore their way through like scissors too, cutting through the pink flesh of Susie's neck. Her head dropped, eyes still frozen in shock, towards the ground. It hit with a dull 'poof', collapsing into dust on impact. The rest of her body melted into grey powder, running over the Knight's swords like water rinsing dirty knives. In a matter of a few seconds there was nothing left but a pile of dust. Not even her clothes remained behind.

When they had fought Jevil, Kris had seen Susie knocked out several times. Seeing her collapsed on the ground, all of her strength reduced to nothing, had been harrowing. But, even when he had died himself and been forced to go back, he had never actually see her die. Actually, he had never seen anyone die before.

"I am impressed," said the Knight, lowering his swords. He sheathed one, freeing up a hand to unfasten his cloak. "I must confess I do not know how you spotted me. But your companion was far from as observant as you." The dark robe dropped to the ground. Its impact sent a rush of air forward, scattering dust all over the clearing.

Sickness rose in Kris's stomach, followed by an overpowering feeling of rage. His hands shook. His expression cracked.

**"Kris? Kris, listen to me. It's ok, we can fix this."**

His lips drew back into a snarl, exposing his bared teeth. There was a faint popping sound from his knuckles as his grip on his sword grew painfully tight.

**"Kris? Kris, calm down. Clam down and listen to-**

_I'm going to kill him._

**"Kris, don't-**

_I'M GOING TO KILL HIM!_

An almost inhuman screech came from his throat as every barrier he had erected inside of himself came crashing down. His mind was on fire, the soul in his chest flaring with reckless passion and emotion. He heard screams, screams of pain and fear and saw visions of dust and blood.

The Knight took a step back, raising his swords defensively. Kris bolted forward and made a wide hacking slash. The Knight parried, expecting the human to move to one side as his sword was deflected. Instead Kris barrelled into him, utterly heedless as one of the Knight's swords cut into his arm.

Again Kris hacked down, and again and again, screaming all the while. Four swords ran him through, piercing his heart and his lungs which rapidly began to fill with blood. Kris couldn't have cared less. He slashed and hacked and pounded with the cross guard. Metal clanged against metal, over and over, until a grating sound echoed through the clearing.

The Knight cried out in pain and Kris's snarl of anger twisted into a savage grin. He struck again and the Knight spasmed, thrusting one of his swords into Kris's neck. Even though he could feel his throat and mouth filling with blood, Kris struck one more time. The Knight convulsed for a second time, then lay still.

The helmet, once shining and beautiful was crumpled and rent, plastered with blood. Whose blood was it? It probably didn't matter. Kris went to stand, only to straight away collapse in a heap. His thoughts were red tinged and unfocused, black mist seeping into the clearing to overwhelm him. On instinct his body forced him to cough, coagulated blood flying from his mouth to splatter over the grass. It hurt. Dear Lord, did it hurt.

It was only as the mist swept over him, dragging him down into darkness, that Kris realised that the whole time, someone had been calling his name. Oh, right...

* * *

. . .

*It seems you have reached an end.

*Would you like to try again?

[Yes] [No]

[Yes] [**No**]

. . .

*But it refused.

* * *

**Our first real bit of action. As you can tell I fully intend to earn this story its 'T' Rating. I doubt things will ever get much more violent than this, especially since if they did I might have to up the rating to 'M' and I'd rather not do that. I had a pretty good time writing this, so I hope it was engaging to read. Please do give me any feedback you might have, as action scenes are an area I particularly want to improve in. See you guys next time!**


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

"What'd they do that for?" grumbled Susie. "Ah, whatever! You still remember how to solve the puzzle to-

The sound of retching from behind her cut Susie off. She turned around to find Kris doubled over, propping himself up with one hand and trying to cover his mouth with the other. Some kind of sticky, pale fluid was leaking out between his fingers.

"Woah! Kris are you ok?" cried Susie, rushing over to kneel beside him. The human didn't answer. His wide eyes were trained on the ground as his body spasmed. He jerked forward sharply, and a mess of water, bile and weird goop poured from his mouth. The vomit splattered all over the grass. There was a faint trace of red in it.

"Holy shit!" gasped Susie. "That's not supposed to happen! It's bad when humans do that, right?!" To tell the truth she actually understood very little about how humans worked. She knew that they leaked blood when they got hurt, that they had to digest food like animals and that they would stare at each other weirdly when they were in love, but nothing about them spewing sludge everywhere. There was no way this could be normal, and from the look on Kris's face it didn't look like it was good either.

_Crapcrapcrapcrap! What do I do? _she thought, mind racing. Did this have something to do with Kris acting strange earlier? Was it because he felt sad? Did he have an imbalance in his internal magic? Wait, no, humans didn't have internal magic. Susie wished Ralsei was here with his healing.

Apparently having finished vomiting, Kris dropped back on to his knees. He kept staring at the ground, his face twisted with an emotion Susie couldn't understand, other than it was bad. The human shook, clutching himself tightly. Then he covered his face and started to rock back and forth, repeating something over and over.

"What? Kris, what's going on?" asked Susie, trying to make her voice gentle. It wasn't a very natural thing for her to do, but it was obvious that Kris was in pretty severe distress. Rather than answer her though, he just kept rocking and muttering. It was quiet, and since he was half muffling it with his hands, Susie struggled to make out what he was saying. Then she caught it.

"ImsorryImsorryImsorryImsorryImsorryImsorryImsorryImsorryImsorryImsorry," he repeated, whispering it frantically.

Susie sat in a stunned silence. Nothing about this made any sense. She had never seen anyone do something like this and couldn't even begin to imagine why they might. Was it a human thing? Actually, that didn't matter. It was obvious that Kris was in some kind of shock, or panic or whatever.

_What would Ralsei do? _Susie thought. Tentatively, she reached out and put a hand on Kris's shoulder. Immediately he stopped rocking and sat bolt upright. Afraid that she'd somehow done something wrong, Susie drew back. Kris blinked and his eyes became a bit less wild. He seemed to be seeing the world around him again, looking over at Susie with surprise, as if he hadn't known she was there.

Then, he dove forward and to her immense shock and surprise wrapped his arms around her in a tight hug. "Woah! Hey, hey! Personal space!" she snapped moving to push him off. Kris moved back a little, but kept his hands on her shoulders, gazing intently into her face. It was like he was checking for something. "Uh, Kris? You ok?" asked Susie. _Stupid question, _she thought immediately, _he's obviously not._

But, bizarrely, Kris responded with a smile, relief washing over his face. He relaxed and let go, his shoulders drooping. If he had found what he was looking for in her face or not, Susie had no idea. "I'm, I'm ok," Kris said in a small voice. It sounded as if he was telling himself that, like it was some kind of revelation. "I'm ok," he said again, louder and with more confidence this time.

"I dunno," said Susie, "You didn't look ok."

"I'm ok now," clarified Kris. "Sorry you had to see that. I wasn't..." He sighed. "I can't really explain," he admitted. "But I promise I'm ok now. I promise, I'll never do that again." A strange feeling pricked at Susie. It seemed for a moment that Kris's words were laden with an extra bit of meaning that she couldn't get at.

"Now then," Kris continued, smile shifting back into his normal, neutral look, "Let's just, try that again, shall we?

* * *

...

*Do you wish to return to whence you came?

*All your progress will be lost.

[Yes] [No]

[Yes] [**No**]

...

*But it refused.

* * *

Sans decided not to get up that morning. It was a Wednesday, and he needed to be up in order to run the store. He should get up. But that was his common sense talking, the part of him that had been built to deal with normal, everyday things. What was happening now was not at all normal, so what common sense said no longer applied. At least that was what Sans was telling himself.

Instead he stayed sprawled awkwardly in bed, his blankets pulled half over him in a heap. The other half flopped over the side, pooling on the floor. It wasn't actually comfortable to stay in bed anymore. Sans' bones were stiff, and his clothes felt like they were sticking to him. His eyelids were heavy, wanting to spring open. But, stubbornly, Sans refused.

If he got up, he would have to start actually living the day. He would have to deal with things. Inevitably, one of those things would end up being what had happened in his dreams last night. And by the Father, Sans didn't want to do that. It was better to just wallow here, keeping his eyes shut and hoping that something would happen to take his problems away. Maybe the roof would fall in on him? Maybe the house would catch fire? Maybe someone would be decent enough to break in and murder him? Perhaps he would just lie here until he died from starvation?

As it turned out he wouldn't get to experience any of these morbid releases from reality. Instead, there was a series of loud knocks on his door. Sans didn't respond. He didn't want to find the energy right now. He hoped, vainly, that if he just did nothing then the knocker would go away. He didn't, of course.

"BROTHER?" came a loud voice from behind the door. "IT'S GONE PAST NINE! IT IS HIGH TIME FOR YOU TO BE UP!" Papyrus was never one to just give up on things. Sans supposed it was nature's way of compensating. One sibling who was arguably too stubborn, one who was never stubborn enough.

**_"Give up!"_**

"dam it," muttered Sans, opening his eyes. "hang on a sec, Pap!" he called over his shoulder towards the door. Slowly, like a reanimated corpse, Sans sat up and slid out of bed. His blankets all fell onto the floor as he did. Not seeing any point in fixing them, Sans crossed over to rummage through his closet for clean clothes.

He hadn't done the laundry in a while. Or, well, he hadn't brought his things down for Papyrus to wash them in a while. Lazy piece of shit. All he had left was a thick, grey sweater and a pair of black track pants. Oh well, the heat didn't actually matter to him. Sans pulled the clothes on, appreciating how they felt fresh after the ones he'd slept in. Those he tossed into the small hill of unwashed clothes in the corner. He should probably deal with that at some point today. He should probably do a lot of things.

It was only as he pulled his trusty blue hoodie on that Sans noticed. These clothes he was wearing now were the same ones he had been wearing in his night-time adventure. So he did own them in real life then? Well, they were pretty non-descript clothes, so it could be a coincidence. It was really just another small pebble to add to the mountain of things that were telling him something was wrong. But that wasn't a mountain Sans wanted to climb. Not now, not ever.

Outside he found Papyrus waiting for him, arms folded to complement a concerned frown. He was still wearing that ratty old orange scarf. He always wore it though, so it wasn't that strange. Actually, Sans couldn't remember a time when his brother hadn't worn it. "mornin' pap," Sans said, cementing his usual, relaxed smile.

"NOT FOR MUCH LONGER IT ISN'T," said Papyrus, tone overloaded with disapproval. "HONESTLY SANS, I CANNOT UNDERSTAND HOW YOU CAN SPEND SO MUCH TIME JUST LAZING AROUND. IT IS SO AWFULLY WASTEFUL!"

"eh, you know me, bro," said Sans, "there ain't **no body **as lazy as me."

Papyrus deadpanned. "THAT WAS TRULY AWFUL," he said, with cold disdain.

"hey, i only just got up," shrugged Sans, "give me some time to get goin'."

"GET GOING IS EXACTLY WHAT YOU'LL HAVE TO DO," said Papyrus. "YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO HAVE OPENED THE STORE TEN MINUTES AGO! THERE WILL BE ANXIOUS CUSTOMERS AWAITING SERVICE!"

"are there?" wondered Sans.

"WELL...NOT AS OF YET," admitted Papyrus, "BUT THEY COULD APPEAR AT ANY MOMENT!"

"not a lot of people live here, bro," Sans pointed out.

"THAT ISN'T THE POINT!" insisted Papyrus, clearly exasperated. "IT IS A CONVEINICE STORE! YOUR DUTY IS TO MAKE IT CONVEINIENT! YOU MUST BE THERE, POISED AND READY TO PROVIDE YOUR SERVICES TO ANY AND ALL CUSTOMERS, WHO FIND THEMSELVES KEENLY IN NEED OF SOME SUDDEN ITEM, WHETHER GREAT OR SMALL!" That was certainly a grandiose way of putting it.

Sans thought about what his day would be. He'd sit there behind the counter, passing the hours napping, reading or screwing around on his phone. The glorious inactivity would only be broken once every hour or so when someone stopped by. Then Sans would put on his friendly, helpful face, and ask them what they needed. He'd find it for them-whatever it was-and they'd exchange a few pleasant, social nothings. It would all be so utterly meaningless and require almost no effort at all. And yet...

"wow bro, you've got quite the vision for our little store, don't ya?"

"WELL, IT IS IMPORTANT THAT IT BE A SUCCESS, SANS," declared Papyrus, "AFTER ALL, IT IS YOUR ENDEVOUR, AND I COULD NOT ABIDE ANY EFFORT OF YOURS GOING TO WASTE. THERE IS NO MUCH OF IT AFTER ALL," he added with a sideways look.

"heh, thanks pap," grinned Sans. "but uh, i actually have some stuff i gotta do today. i don't suppose you could watch the shop for me while i'm out, could ya?"

Papyrus stared at his brother in astonishment. "ME? MANAGE THE STORE? BY MYSELF?!"

"sure. you how everything works, right? and there's no one better at bein' a good host than you, bro."

"INDEED, THAT IS SO!" agreed Papyrus. "WAIT A SECOND," he said, suddenly suspicious, "YOU ARE NOT JUST USING THIS AS A WAY TO AVOID WORKING ARE YOU, SANS?"

"nah, i've actually got somethin' real important that needs me to look into it. besides, i'm sure you could **see right through me** if i tried to steer you wrong."

Papyrus growled a little at the pun, but quickly relented. "VERY WELL," he said, standing up even straighter than normal, "I, PAPYRUS, SHALL SHOULDER THIS BURDEN FOR YOU, BROTHER! BUT IF I FIND OUT THAT YOU'VE BEEN SLACKING OFF," he added, wagging a warning finger at Sans.

"don't worry 'bout it," said Sans. "i'll be back before you close. promise."

* * *

"What'd they do that for?" grumbled Susie. "Ah, whatever! You still remember how to solve the puzzle to open it, right Kris?"

She turned and found the human staring off into the dark space beyond the clearing. Most of the Darkworld seemed to be surrounded on all sides by black, empty space. It had seemed really strange to Susie at first, but she supposed it made sense. The world was meant to be made of darkness or something like that, so there should be darkness everywhere, right?

"Uh, Kris, what are you looking at?" she asked, walking over to him. Squinting, Susie tried to see what he was seeing. Was it like that weird tree Kris had been able to find in the dark the first time they came through here? Well, Susie couldn't see anything now. "I don't-

"I know you're out there," said Kris, raising his voice and cutting her off, "come out and face us if you're so noble."

"Kris, who the heck are you talking to?" demanded Susie, looking at her friend incredulously. Instead of saying anything, Kris looked pointedly towards the darkness. There was a small clinking of metal and a shape detached itself from the shadows. It seemed to materialise, hardening into a figure, dressed in a long, dark purple cloak with the hood pulled up. "Oh, that's who."

Underneath the hood Susie could see that the figure was wearing a metal helmet with a visor that stuck out like a pointed snout. For some reason, Susie could feel a cold shiver run down her back when she looked at it. It was like that strange old saying: that you felt someone walk over your grave.

The figure was looking at Kris, head tilted slightly to one side. "Impressive," he said at last. He had a deep voice that his helmet gave a metallic echo to. "I must confess that I do not know how you became aware of my presence. You are perceptive, human."

"I think you'll find I'm more than just that," said Kris. His voice was grim, and the line of his jaw was hard.

"Kris, who the hell is this guy?" asked Susie, by now feeling thoroughly confused.

"I am the Knight, Champion of Darkness," said the armoured figure. "I am the bane of your kind, lightner."

"Hey! You're the guy who made the fountain and turned Lancer's dad evil!" realised Susie.

"Indeed, t'was I who opened the Eastern Fountain," said the Knight. "I fight to bring about the destruction of the Lightworld. Those who once were masters shall become the slaves, and those who were their slaves shall master them." His anger was clear and intense, pulsing out in waves like the sea. Advancing, encroaching like the tide.

"We're not your enemies you know," said Kris.

"Nay, you are mistaken," hissed the Knight, "My foes are mine to choose, and I have chosen thee."

"Why do you hate us?" asked Kris. "We've done nothing to you."

"Yeah!" added Susie, "We've never even met before!"

A long, malicious chuckle came echoing from the Knight's helmet. "Perhaps we have, and perhaps we have not," he said. "Yet my people have suffered beneath the lightner heel for generations. The myth of our purpose-the purpose of servitude-is our chain, and the prophecies and legends are the shackles about our wrists. We need you not. Nay, it is you who have need of us. But enough talk, it is time to spend your worthless lives."

There was a whirl of purple fabric, followed sharply by a flash of steel.

* * *

Sans walked along, trying to think clearly. It was difficult because, quite frankly, he didn't want to.

**_"Give up. Give up and forget everything!"_**

"believe me, it sure does sound tempting," Sans muttered, "but ya see nightmare girl, once ya put somethin' like this in front of me, I can't really afford to not care." He fidgeted with the collar of his sweater, pulling it down towards his chest. A tingling sensation ran through it in a line whenever a he thought about the girl. It was a line that bisected him cleanly from right shoulder to left hip.

_the human clearly knew me, _Sans thought, trying to reason things out calmly. _kris, clearly knows me, too, even if he hasn't said anything about it after our first run-in. it sounded like the demon-girl was up to something, some kind of plan. but she's worried about me getting involved. have i gotten involved with her before? it sure didn't seem like we were friends. kris seemed to think i was his friend._

Sans passed by a pair of tall, brawny monsters wearing black helmets and plaid shirts. They nodded to him, and Sans gave them a cheery wave. His footsteps were taking him south, towards the edge of town. He wasn't really trying to go anywhere in particular though. Instead, he was just walking in a straight line, hoping to find somewhere where there was less people.

_so, given that people remember me, and that i sort of remember things, let's assume we're dealing with something in the past. that would make sense, given that i can remember jack-all up until a couple of months ago. i know about souls, quantum physics and a bunch of crap like that. does that mean i was a scientist? i think so. idea feels right, anyhow._

Sans passed by the church. It was a small building, but elegantly decorated for its size. A single, thin spire reached up from its front, too small to actually house a bell. At its top was a winged circle, the symbol of the spirit. Beautiful stained-glass windows along its sides depicted various abstract nothings.

Despite studying souls, Sans didn't feel that he had ever been much of one for religion. Besides, from what he could tell it was one of those 'Complete Revelation' places, that combined old monster traditions with human ones to give a supposed full picture. That there would be a human influenced church in one of the oldest monster towns in America bothered Sans, just a little. It reminded him of how small his people were when compared to humans. He passed on, heading down a roughly beaten track into the woods.

_ok, what have we got then? we have little old scientist me, who was an enemy to this red-eyed freak and a friend to kris. then something happens and i can't remember anything, but they can. and yet, both of the humans talked to me like i should still know them, so they don't know i don't remember. then there's that lab._

Sans walked on, winding deeper and deeper into the woods. Occasionally, a golden leaf would crunch under his foot. The noises of Hometown grew steadily quieter behind him as he went. No one seemed to be about.

"if i was a scientist," mused Sans, talking out-loud now that he was alone, "then maybe that lab was where i worked? makes sense, i guess; i recognised that machine." The DT Extractor. Sans' mind went to that room. To the thing he had seen there. While he'd been in pain there had been flashes of images, sounds and other things. Memories. And of course there had been that **thing **watching him.

"determination," whispered Sans. "whatever that is it's important. deadly important, maybe. the extractor was made to harvest it from human souls, and it was brutal to use. i, no, we, wouldn't have used something like that unless it was important. my notes talked about a determination type soul, so it must be a soul trait, right? if it's rare, that would explain why i've never heard of it." Sans tapped a bony finger against his chin. "then again, i might have just forgotten what i knew about it. all i know is that it's got to be powerful in some way. and dangerous i think, too."

He stopped as the path broadened out into a clearing. The trees with their pale, grey bark and their warm golden leaves all seemed to lean in, curious. In the centre was a grassy hillock that rose about three metres up, with steep sides. Idly, Sans walked to the top of it and sat down.

"that creature watching me," he went on, tucking his hands deeper into his pockets, "that wasn't the same as the girl. no, the eyes were all wrong. i saw a human though, when i fell into that weird hole thing. that one had red eyes but, it looked different. is there a third human in all this? actually, how many people are involved? there could be hundreds of us, and we just don't remember it. that note mentioned dreemurr after all. what's he got to do with all this?"

Feeling drained by the whole lot of nothing that he had to go on, Sans slumped forward. Looking over the edge of the hillock he saw to his surprise that there were two rusted, metal doors set into it. "what the?" The doors were recessed, shielded from view at first by overhanging grass. Sans slid down to look more closely.

There were two metal handles set close to the doors. Apart from that and their flaking red paint the they were featureless. A small hill with doors set in it. It looked kind of like a bunker. Curious, Sans reached out and tried the handle. It screeched and scrapped a little in protest and then stuck. Sans tried again, pushing harder. A resounding clunk from inside told him that the door was locked. He tried the other handle and got the same result.

"weird. wonder who this belongs to?" Perhaps some resident of the town had it as an apocalypse plan. It was there in case they needed to survive a zombie outbreak or nuclear winter. Sans chuckled, thinking of some eccentric monster slaving away out here in the woods, preparing for a disaster that would probably never happen. _and if it does, this probably won't help much._

Sans wrapped his knuckles against the metal of the doors. "knock, knock," he said, amusing himself. Of course there was no response. Funny, for some reason he had half expected that there would be one.

* * *

Kris was panting heavily, sweat running in beads down his forehead. They had done better than the first time, he supposed. He wasn't sure if it was because of the extra few words at the start or if he had just gotten more used to the Knight's attacks, but he and Susie had lasted much longer than they had originally.

Despite that, they had both taken several hits by now and, try as they might, had been unable to lay a finger on the Knight. It seemed like-short of suicidally tackling him-there was no way to actually hit the Knight. No matter how close a swing got he always parried it or danced out of reach. Kris had never dealt with a fight like this before. Even against Jevil or the King it had been more about getting out of the way of the enemy's attacks rather than being able to hit them. Most darkners seemed to just rely on the power of their attacks to act as shield for them. It seldom worked, so Kris could hardly blame the Knight for trying something different.

_I guess we can just try again, right? _he thought.

**"Don't give up yet. The moment you give up is the moment you lose."**

_...Right._

Swallowing hard, Kris raised his sword, lengthening his arms. He held the weapon in a long-point guard, aiming it directly at the Knight. Beside him, Kris was dimly aware of Susie readying her axe.

In front, the Knight took two restless paces to either side and lashed his tail. "Enough of this foolishness," he snapped. "You have some determination perhaps, filthy children of light. But I have toyed with you long enough. Die." He shot forward, swords flashing.

Kris ducked under the topmost sword and deflected the lower one, pulling his sword back in towards his body. Susie cried out as both the blows aimed at her connected. The Knight kicked her savagely in the chest and she fell, sprawling against the black iron gate. She didn't get up. It seemed like all she could do was sit there, clutching at her chest where she'd been sliced open.

The Knight turned to Kris, looming over him. Pale light from the roof overhead framed his helmet in a fait halo. He was a metal-clad spectre of death standing over Kris. Wordlessly he attacked, all four swords stabbing down.

**"Back and left."**

Kris leapt clear, taking the opportunity to stab at the Knight's uppermost left shoulder. His sword was swiped aside in a swift, circular motion. It was followed up by the two swords on the right swinging in at him. Kris managed to block, and dove forwards, ducking under both the swords and the Knight's arms. He moved to take a step backwards and get clear. Hot pain lanced up his left leg as the Knight's tail wrapped around the ankle. It's bladed surface bit deep into Kris's flesh before yanking forwards. He hit the ground roughly, the wind knocked immediately out of him. In less than a second the Knight was on him, uppermost swords arching down.

Something interposed itself between Kris and his death. Swords clashed against black and white magic attacks that shattered on contact. Astonished, both Kris and the Knight turned to see where the attacks had come from.

Behind the gate, two people had appeared. One was short with a rounded black body and white arms and legs. He wore a blue, pointed hood, along with matching boots and gloves, one of which was reaching towards Kris through the bars. A goofy grin of triumph was spread over his face. "Yeah! I did it!" cried Lancer, "I saved the day, like the cool anti-hero I am!"

The other newcomer had placed both hands on Susie's cut and damaged shoulders. He wore long, mint green robes and a green, pointed hat, with spaces sewn in for his short horns. A bright pink scarf was wrapped around his neck. His face was shrouded in darkness apart from his circle rimmed glasses that stood out precariously on the end of his nose.

A warm yellow glow surrounded Susie, who sat up, blinking. "There we are," crooned Ralsei, smiling.

"Wha- hey! It's you guys!" exclaimed Susie.

"Heck yeah it's us!" grinned Lancer, "we came here to save you!"

"Hell yeah!" grinned Susie.

"This, this is treason," growled the Knight, voice low and threatening.

"If anyone's a traitor around here it's you!" shouted Ralsei. It was surprisingly forceful for someone Kris was used to seeing be gentle and passive. Ralsei hauled on a heavy metal lock and the gate clanked open. Kris scrambled to his feet and ran for it, the Knight hot on his heels. The others shoved the twin gates open, Susie hurrying to the other side. Kris could almost feel the swords biting into his back as he ran.

**"Jump!"**

Kris dove forwards, crashing into a heap on the other side of the gates. Susie and Lancer slammed the gates shut behind him, just barely managing to block the Knight. He smashed into the gleaming black ironwork, the force of the impact knocking Lancer off his feet. Before the Knight could recover from the crash Ralsei shoved the lock back into place and jumped away. Swords, their edges still tinged red with Kris's blood, stabbed between the bars as the four of them drew back.

"You betray your people!" howled the Knight, violently enraged as Ralsei beckoned them all to leave. "I will have your head for this, you worthless prince of hollows!"

"M-maybe," stammered Ralsei, "but not today!" All four of them turned tail and ran, leaving the Knight vainly beating and scrabbling at the gate as they escaped.


	8. Chapter 8

*You tried to run away.

...

*But you had no body to move.

*All around you seems to be darkness. The ground is cold, and a faint light is reflecting off the bars. You do not know where you are. The entire world is drowning in shadows.

*There is **soMEoNE_ I_n _The r_OoM _wiiiiiiiiiiiiii-_**

*You are alone. The Darkness is growing around you. You have died twice now, but you did not feel it. You tried to scream.

...

*But you had no mouth.

*You called for help.

...

*But nobody came.

* * *

Chapter 8

To his surprise, Asriel found he was bored. Kris had taken off in the morning to go hang out with his new friend, Susie. Asriel had offered to come along too, but Kris had seemed a bit reluctant, so he let it drop. Instead he had just wandered around town, looking at things and talking to people. He had thought at first that he would be able to spend the day catching up with everyone. It seemed like he had forgotten just how quiet Hometown was. Everything seemed to be almost exactly the same as when he'd left.

BP had gotten a job working in Ice-e's, the town's only other restaurant besides the diner. Restaurant was probably too complementary a word for it though. Actually, calling what BP did a job was probably a bit generous too. He stood around all day wearing a poorly made mascot costume, or else was trapped behind a counter trying to serve impatient parents and screaming children. It didn't look like much fun, to say the least.

None of Asriel's other friends had actually stayed in Hometown. It seemed like everyone had been all too eager to get out of here. It made sense; there was essentially no work here, and no much to do. Growing up, Asriel had always made his own fun with his friends. They had relied on each other to make ways to pass the long, hazy summer days. Most of the time they hadn't found much more to do than sit around and talk, or perhaps play catch or something, but that had been enough. With none of them around Asriel began to realise how much Kris had filled his time.

Hanging out with his brother had always been the highlight of Asriel's days. Kris's imagination would provide the two of them with an endless array of things to do. He could always come up with some new game or world to play in. Together, the two of them had travelled between cloud cities on magic wings, fought demons made of reanimated dust and rescued a giant three-headed dog from the clutches of its abusive master. Then, Kris had gotten older and seemed to grow reluctant to share his stories. Asriel supposed it was part of growing up, that they were meant to stop doing those kinds of silly things. He had missed it though.

And then the shouting had started. Sporadically at first, maybe no more than once a month. It got more frequent though, until it seemed like Asgore and Toriel were hurling insults at each other every chance they got. Well, Toriel hurled insults. Most of the time Asgore just seemed to brood. He would tower grimly in some dark corner of the room, trying to wither it with his silent scowl. Both the silence and the screaming had frightened Asriel. At first, he thought Kris wasn't scared, he reacted so little to it. Boy had that been a poor judgement call.

In the end Asgore had seemed to just get tired of it all. Instead of brooding or snapping back he just sat and glowered. Then he began to just look sad all the time. And then one day he went out and just didn't come home for the night. Asriel found out two days later that his dad wouldn't be living with them anymore.

Things seemed to be better now though. Asgore seemed to have gotten settled in at his new place, and he seemed happy enough. Well, he seemed happier than he was before, so that was a start. Toriel also seemed to be happy. The only thing that troubled her was Kris. That was what was troubling Asriel too.

He had seemed better yesterday, though still kind of off. And when he had come home the first night, he had been almost cold towards Asriel. No, not almost, he **had** been cold. Was it just the suddenness of having Asriel back home? Kris did tend to react badly to change after all. The tracks of his mind seemed to shift very slowly, making it hard for him to adapt to new places, people or patterns. That might be all it was. Yet something made Asriel doubtful it was so simple an issue. Kris was a complicated person, and while it pained him to admit it Asriel only understood a little of what went on behind that placid expression of his.

Human's were so strange. Well, maybe they weren't all as strange as Kris, but they were strange. The way they looked at each other, the way they stressed out over what they should or shouldn't say. The strange preoccupation they had with how people looked was the main thing. Asriel had tried to explain it to some of his human friends at university. None of them had been able to understand what he was trying to say though, so he'd dropped it.

Thinking about it, Asriel wondered if he just gravitated towards strange people. Frisk was plenty strange too, after all. He smiled thinking about her.

He was so absorbed in his thoughts that Asriel almost walked clean into a monster heading the other way. "Woah! Sorry!" he said, skidding to a stop.

The other monster took a couple more staggered half steps then stopped too. He was a short skeleton wearing a blue hoodie and black pants. From the blank way he was looking at Asriel it seemed like he had been deep in his own thoughts. "oh, whoops," he said, grinning apologetically, "sorry pal, wasn't lookin' where i was goin'."

"That's fine, I wasn't either," said Asriel, waving it off. "Hey," he realised, "you must be Papyrus's brother, Sans, right?"

"oh, yeah that's me," nodded the skeleton. "you know my brother?"

"We met just yesterday. I'm Kris's brother, Asriel." He stuck out a hand.

"ah yeah, i remember," said Sans, accepting the handshake. "good to meet ya. your brother's been pretty great, giving papyrus someone to hang out with an' all."

"Well, honestly I think it's good for him too. Kris doesn't make a lot of friends."

"nah, neither does pap. most people find him a bit too uh, much."

Asriel nodded. "I can see why," he said, "he seems like a nice guy though."

"oh, he is," agreed Sans, "coolest guy that i know. heh, and that ain't just 'cause he's got no body heat."

Asriel made a small chuckle. "You guys are new around here then?" he asked, turning to walk in the direction Sans had been going. Asriel had nowhere he was trying to get to.

"yeah, moved in a couple of weeks back," said Sans, walking along beside him. "seems like a nice, quiet place."

"It is, yeah," said Asriel. He looked around at the lines of sleepy suburban homes. Each one was a little different from the other, having its own unique character to it. And yet they all blended together, their little stories mixed into a single lazy tune. "Lot of people think it's a bit too quiet though."

"ah, well, no amount of quiet is too quiet for me," said Sans, "i ain't the type of guy to go in for a lot of excitement. some nice folks, good food and a few decent places to fall asleep and i'm a happy camper."

"Then I don't think you'll have many complaints," smiled Asriel. _Makes me wish I could be so easily satisfied, _he thought.

* * *

"We're alive?!" gasped Lancer once they'd stopped running. Ralsei watched as he patted himself up and down. "We're alive!" declared the short spade, once he was satisfied that, yes, all of his parts were still attached, and he hadn't sprung any holes.

"Thank you for coming," panted Kris, who was leaning against a nearby tree. "Without you guys we wouldn't have made it." He didn't look like he was exaggerating, his skin still criss-crossed with cuts from the fight. The Knight had clearly run him into the ground.

"Speak for yourself," grunted Susie, "I had that guy on the ropes!"

"Um, weren't you passed out against the gate when we got there?" asked Ralsei, raising a sceptical eyebrow.

"No!" protested Susie, folding her arms, "I was just, waiting for my opportunity while Kris distracted him that's all."

"...I see," smiled Ralsei. Deciding it was better to leave Susie to think what she liked, Ralsei went over to Kris. The human hissed in pain when Ralsei put a hand on his arm. "You don't look too good, Kris. Here." A warm glow radiated out from the prince's hands. It spread over Kris's whole body, covering him in a soothing yellow light. As the light faded, most of the cuts and scrapes faded too. A few persisted, but even these ones shrunk down, at least half-closed. Kris smiled and stood up straighter, looking much better already.

Ralsei on the other hand felt a bit tired. All the panicking they'd been doing, plus two big healing spells could really wear someone down. Still, he could hardly deny that Kris and Susie seemed to have been through much worse. The Knight without his cloak, his four gleaming swords stain with blood, had been a terrifying sight. His extra limbs only served to make him seem even larger. He was like a giant, metal spider with razor sharp edges on his limbs instead of teeth. Ralsei shivered.

"I don't think we should stay here," he said, "somehow, I don't think a gate will be enough to stop him for long." Kris nodded, his face grave.

"Besides, I need to get back to the castle," said Lancer, "I gotta tell everyone to stop freaking out. They still think there're dangerous lightners on the way to crush 'em."

"They were evacuated then?" asked Kris.

"Yeah, the Knight told everyone to go and hide in the castle while he fought you," said Ralsei. "He told them you were someone else; that you'd be dangerous."

"We are dangerous!" insisted Susie.

"Oh, you know what I mean," tutted Ralsei. "Anyway, we should hurry back to card castle and tell everyone there that things are ok."

"Are things ok?" asked Kris, "I don't think the Knight will just give up that easily."

"Probably not," admitted Ralsei, "but I don't think he'd hurt anyone else. He's really only angry with us."

"We're screwed!" said Lancer, grinning.

"Pah! Don't worry about that guy, Lancer," huffed Susie, "We'll crush him into dust! Or, uh, say something nice to him?" she added in response to Ralsei's disapproving glare. "Look, point is, we got this!" she finished, grinning.

Ralsei glanced over at Kris. He was biting his lower lip and his brows were furrowed. It didn't look like he agreed with Susie at all. When it came to it, Ralsei wasn't sure he agreed with her either. Still, they would have to try, and being defeatist certainly wouldn't help. "C'mon," he said, forcing a smile, "let's get going."

* * *

Back at Card Castle they found that the whole thing was packed. People filled all the corridors and chambers, talking nervously to one another in low voices. Valuable belongings had been piled in heaps, in some cases blocking the way to a door or some stairs. There was an air of tension hanging over everyone it seemed.

It proved difficult to get through. Most people either didn't notice Lancer or else had forgotten that he was supposed to be in charge, so they didn't move out of the way. For the most part they probably couldn't have, there was so little space. At first, Ralsei painstakingly talked his way past each darkner, convincing them that they were safe and that they should go back home. Even after that it took a bit of scrabbling for the four of them to get by. After ten minutes of this Susie seemed to run of patience and shouted for everyone to scram and barged her way through. Ralsei apologised as best he could as they went, but he had to admit her strategy was more effective. The tight huddles of people parted quickly to let them by.

Before long they had made their way up to the throne room. It didn't seem like anyone had gathered here apart from the ruddin rangers who were all whispering to each other. After they had been loudly interrupted, they said that they'd been discussing how to try and defend the castle if the Knight failed trying to stop the lightners.

"And did you have any ideas?" asked Kris.

The head ranger slid forward. He was distinguished from the others by his golden visor-even if he had still insisted on wearing red. "To be honest," he said, "if something's strong enough to get past the Knight, I don't think any of us can stop it. We thought it would work best if we tried to hold them at the gate but, that was the best we'd had so far."

Kris nodded, gloomily. "So you don't think you could stop the Knight if he tried to attack the castle?" he asked.

"Uh, well," stammered the head ranger, rather taken aback by the question, "we didn't really think about that. Probably not though. None of us could beat the King in a fight and well, the Knight's way stronger than he was."

"Well it just so happens to be your lucky day," said Susie, folding her arms, "Cause he's probably heading here right now. And he's pissed."

"Your majesty?" said the head ranger, looking to Lancer for conformation.

"Yeah, he seemed pretty angry," nodded the short spade. "He definitely threatened to do some pretty bad things to us. But you guys'll be fine!" he added, grinning, "I'm sure he'll only slightly smash you!" The rangers all exchanged nervous glances.

"What the regent means," cut in Ralsei, "is that the Knight isn't going to hurt any darkners he's not angry with. We need you to go downstairs and tell everyone they should go home."

"They'll only get in the way of the smashing," explained Lancer.

"**And**, they might get hurt if they stay," added Ralsei, with a pointed scowl in Lancer's direction.

"uh, yeah, mostly that," said Lancer.

"I think, we can do that, sire," said the head ranger, glancing between Ralsei and Lancer.

"When you've got all the people to safety," said Kris, "set up a watch. Let us know if you see the Knight approaching."

"Right," nodded the head ranger. "Come on boys," he said, turning the other ruddins, "glimmer glammor!"

"Glimmer glammor!" they all responded, before hurrying down the stairs and out of the throne room.

Once the rangers were gone, Lancer went over and slumped against the foot of the throne. He looked very small next to it. "Are we doomed?" he asked.

"Nah," said Susie, "Kris, you're the plan guy, you'll think of something, right?"

"I thought he was the puzzle guy?" asked Lancer.

"He does that too."

"What doesn't he do?"

"The cool stuff! Like cracking heads and the kicking bad guys in their asses. We do that!"

"Yeah!" exclaimed Lancer, jumping back to his feet.

"What do I do?" asked Ralsei, frowning.

"Uh, you heal stuff, I guess?" said Susie, making a small shoulder shrug.

"Thanks."

"Anyways, Kris," went on Susie, turning to her fellow lightner, "what is the plan?"

Kris blinked at her surprise. "I don't know," he said, "the Knight was way stronger than anything we've seen before. I'm not sure we **can **beat him."

"Then can't you and Ralsei do the thing where you talk him into being nice and stuff?" asked Susie.

"That didn't work on the King," pointed out Kris, "And the Knight only seems to be even more driven than he was. Ralsei, do you know why he hates lightners so much?" Kris asked, turning to Ralsei.

"I'm not sure," Ralsei admitted, "I wasn't here when he came the first time. I don't even really know where he came from. Lancer, you were here the first time; what do you know about him?" All three of them turned to look at Lancer who seemed suddenly nervous, now that everyone's eyes were on him.

"Uh, I mean, I was kinda small back then," he said. "He showed up at the court not long after Jevil went crazy. Dad was really good friends with him, but the other kings didn't seem to like him very much. They talked all the time, Dad and the Knight, about lots of stuff that I didn't really understand. I think, Dad said that he came from the east, past the castle."

"What is past Card Castle, anyway?" wondered Susie, "I don't think we've ever been that way."

"There's a bunch of cliffs called the Shelf," explained Ralsei, "not a lot of darkners live out there because the winds can get really bad. After that there's just the Black Ocean. No one knows what's on the other side. As far as I knew most people didn't think that there was anything out there."

"Still, none of that helps us beat the Knight," sighed Kris. "I wish we had someone here who was good at fighting."

"Like who?" asked Susie.

"I dunno. My dad maybe," said Kris. "He was a pretty powerful fighter when he was younger. I've heard officer Undyne is meant to be pretty good too."

"So are we supposed to just go and get them to come here?" snorted Susie. "No one's gonna help us out here Kris, we gotta do this with just us."

"Why?" asked Ralsei. Kris and Susie looked at him sharply. Ralsei fidgeted nervously, feeling like he might have asked a stupid question. "I mean, you guys can come here whenever you want, right? Couldn't you ask some strong lightners to come here and help us fight?"

"Uh, well, you see," Susie stammered. "...Kris, you explain it," she snapped.

"No one in our world knows what the Darkworld is," explained Kris, "if we tried to tell them about it, they would just think we were making it up. Besides, I don't think there'd be time. We would have to go through the dark fountain, find the people we needed to come help, convince them the Darkworld was real, bring them back with us and make it all the way here from the Badlands again. By that time you guys would be..." He broke off, looking uncomfortably down at the ground.

"Smashed?" offered Lancer.

"Kinda, yeah," nodded Kris.

A glum silence fell over the four of them. Everyone seemed to find a different place to look that wasn't at someone else. Kris had his eyes trained on the floor, Susie seemed to be examining her spiked arm bands, Lancer studied the ceiling and Ralsei looked at one of the holes in the floor.

"Wait," he said, an idea occurring to him, "we could come with you!"

"WHAT?!" exclaimed Susie, staring at Ralsei agape.

"We could!" insisted Ralsei, "Lancer and I could go through the portal with you. That way the two of us could convince people in the Lightworld that we're real. Then we could all come back together. The Knight doesn't want to hurt darkners, so if we go, he won't have any reason to hurt anybody."

The others all looked at Ralsei as if he had just suggested they try walking to the moon. Then Lancer's expression changed to one of excitement. "Yeah!" he cried, jumping up and down, "we could totally do that. I could get to see your world, Susie."

"I mean, I suppose so," said Susie, still clearly taken aback by the idea.

"We don't know it would work that way," said Kris. "Would you guys even be able to go through the dark fountain?"

"I suppose so?" replied Ralsei, "At least, I can't think of a reason why not. The fountain is supposed to connect our two worlds, right? You guys use it like a bridge so, we should be able to use it too."

"I, I don't know," frowned Kris. He put a hand to the side of his head. His dark eyes bored into the stone floor. "I need to go think for a bit," he said at last, looking back up at the others, "give me a few minutes, ok?" Ralsei nodded and watched Kris leave up the stairs, heading for the rooftop.

Once Kris was gone, Susie snapped her fingers, suddenly remembering something. "Oh yeah, Ralsei," she said, turning to him. "When we went through your old town there were these weird, glowing ghost people. Is that normal?"

Ralsei started, shock plastered over his face. "Y-you didn't do anything to them, right?" he asked.

"Not really," said Susie, "One of 'em walked right through me. It didn't seem like they could see us."

"Oh, good, that's, that's normal," said Ralsei, pulling himself hastily together. "Sorry it's just, I didn't think anyone else could ever see them is all."

"What are they?"

Ralsei took a deep breath. This was going to take a bit of explaining. "You know how when we first met, I said that I was a prince who didn't have any subjects?" he asked. Susie nodded, slowly, trying to see where this might be going. "That's not exactly true," said Ralsei. "At least, I think I had subjects once, a very long time ago. The people you saw are like these, shadows of the people who used to live in the town. At some point they all disappeared, but I didn't. I wish I knew more about it but, I can't really remember anything from before several years ago, other than some vague ideas.

"I just sort of, woke up one day and realised that I didn't know where I was, how I got there or what was going on. It was pretty scary for a while," he added, putting on a shy smile.

Susie stayed quiet for a little while, seeming to process the information. "The door to your castle was open," she said, "so me and Kris went inside to see if you were there."

"Oh!" cried Ralsei, "I must have left the door unlocked when I went back to get some echo flowers for the garden here. Sorry I wasn't there to show you guys around."

"That's fine, really," said Susie. It was weird, she seemed to be oddly quiet all of a sudden. If they went inside the castle, did that mean that they had seen his rooms? Oh. Ralsei suddenly didn't want to talk about this anymore. He kept quiet though, hoping against hope that they wouldn't have found anything to do with her.

"Kris wanted to look a bunch of stuff, you know how he is," said Susie. "We looked in your room and, uh, it's kinda weird that you have two beds, y'know?"

_Please don't ask me about her, please don't ask me!_

"Is it really that weird?" asked Ralsei, forcing a smile.

"Yeah, it's pretty weird," insisted Susie. "But, there was also this weird echo flower...

_Oh dear._

"...it said something about not forgetting someone. What's all that about?"

Ralsei hesitated. To tell the truth, now that he was put to it, he found himself wanting to gush. He wanted to talk for hours all about her and how wonderful she was. Then he would want to cry for hours, and then he would end up painting a bunch of sad pictures and he would sit around being gloomy. There just wasn't time for all that now. He'd have to try and keep it together.

"When I woke up not remembering everything," he began, speaking in the most controlled way he could, "I freaked out a lot. I ran all over the castle, calling out for someone to help me, but I couldn't find anyone. In the end I sat down somewhere and started to cry." Ralsei paused to have a small chuckle at the expensive of his past self. He really had been scared at the time. "Then somebody came and found me.

"She was a human, like Kris. She looked after me, taught me about the castle and how to do things. We learned how to cook together, and she taught me how to draw and how to use magic. We would play games in the streets and courtyards, and watch the ghosts walk by together. Her name was Archa. She was like my big sister; my best friend."

Ralsei stopped again, this time to sniff. He had to pull his glasses down and wipe at his eyes which had started to get damp. Susie and Lancer both watched with looks of sympathy that were surprisingly mature. Perhaps Ralsei had underestimated the two of them a little.

"One day though, she just wasn't there anymore," said Ralsei, swallowing hard. "Her bed was made neatly, like she always made it, when I woke up. I thought she had just gotten up early. But I looked for her in the castle and in the town and I couldn't find her anywhere. So I waited, and waited, and waited. She never came back home. It was like she was never there at all.

"I was afraid that I might forget about her, like I had forgotten everything else. So, I made a promise that I'd never forget her, no matter what." He finished, pulling forcefully at the corners of his mouth in an effort to form a small smile.

"...that sounds pretty rough," said Susie, after a while.

Ralsei shrugged. "Kinda, I guess," he admitted. "But at least I can still remember her."

"My Dad disappeared," grunted Susie. She laughed mirthlessly, then clenched her fists tight. "I don't even know what his name was; my mom wouldn't tell me. Like, who does something like that? Who falls in love, makes two kids and then just leaves?! Then my brother just- Never mind. I guess what I mean is, I know missing people can be tough."

"My mom died," said Lancer, in a small voice.

"I'm sorry Lancer," said Ralsei, "that must be hard."

"It's ok," said the spade, managing a smile, "I just cry sometimes, y'know?"

"Yeah..." said Susie. "Anyway, that's enough of the sad talk, ok?" she said, shaking off her own gloom like a blanket draped around her. "We've gotta be ready to kick that Knight's ass, remember?"

Ralsei nodded, glancing towards the steps that led downstairs.

"How long do you think until he gets here?" wondered Lancer.

"I don't know," said Ralsei, "but I doubt it'll be long now."


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

A light wind danced over the roof of Card Castle. It snatched at Kris's hair as it went by, tugging for it to follow. The human's hair swayed after the wind before falling back into place. Kris left it alone, his attention focused on the pillar of darkness in front of him. The dark fountain rushed upwards at a tremendous speed, tearing up from the ground in an unending black torrent. Where it came from and where it went to was anyone's guess. If Kris had had to make one, he would have guessed that it went to the Lightworld somehow. But as to where it came from? He wondered if even the Knight who made it actually knew.

"I don't like it," he said, voice a faint whisper, drowned out by the rushing of the fountain. But he wasn't talking to someone who actually needed to hear him. It was nice.

**"I don't like it either. How many times have we tried to beat him now, though?"**

"I...lost count," admitted Kris. It was strange. To the others downstairs he had only just come up here for the very first time. From their perspective it couldn't have been more than ten minutes. They had no idea that literal hours had passed since Kris first climbed the stairs. "If we try, and something goes wrong," he said, "we can go back the same way, right?"

**"...It doesn't always work like that. Some things can't be undone. Or there might be consequences you can't predict. The fountain, this place, it's people...I only vaguely understand how they work. I don't know what might happen."**

To an outside observer Kris would have looked calm. They might have even gone so far as to say that he seemed bored. On the inside it was like six dozen teams of chariots were racing each other, except they were all trying to go in different directions. As soon as his thoughts stared to come together, they immediately fell apart again. Indecision gripped him like one of the Knight's ironclad fists.

**"We can keep trying. But I'm not sure you're strong enough."**

Kris's face twitched. "Never am," he said, "Nothing's changed."

For a long while there was no reply. Kris's hands tightened into fists. He gripped so tightly that his slim arms and shoulders began to shake.

**"I can't decide for you. I won't tell you what to do. You have to make your own choices. That's what being strong is."**

He swallowed and looked up. His eyes glistened with unshed tears, reflecting the many glimmering lights that hung in the sky above. The Darkworld had no sun or moon, just an array of dazzling star-like lights that hung above the firmament. They were always there, and always the same. They were unchanging. They were not at all like the little creatures that scurried around underneath them. Down here, nothing ever managed to stay the same.

"I want to go back," Kris rasped. "I want to go back, and I hate it." Slowly, he lifted a hand towards the shining lights, as if he could reach out and grab one. "I'm too afraid to choose for myself. I'm too weak."

**"You're not."**

Kris paused. The words had been spoken with such certainty, such confidence that he almost changed his mind right there on the spot.

**"Your soul is special, almost unique. You have a power that very few people do. Kris, I need you to stay Determined."**

The air in front of him shimmered and Kris found himself staring into a pair of gleaming eyes. They were deep and full of memory. They should almost have felt old, but the bright light in them was young. He could have lost himself staring into those eyes.

"Stay Determined." The words were on the air, audible over the thundering of the fountain. They weren't just a command; they were a promise.

Kris hesitated. A few of his tears slipped loose to run down his face.

* * *

The head ranger bounced nervously from side to side. While the rangers were supposed to be professionals, none of them had actually done much real fighting before. When the King of Spades made his coup everything had happened so fast that no one understood what was going on until it was over. All the fighting had been between the four kings and the Knight. After that the ruddins (like all the other darkners) had just kind of accepted the new status quo. Those few court officials who complained were quickly exiled or thrown in the dungeon and replaced. Everyone else had just gone along with the regime change. That meant that the only people the ruddin rangers had actually fought against had been the two lightners and the dark prince. Even that had gone poorly, with the rangers whacked or sweet talked into submission. And now they were expected to fight one of if not the most powerful darkner alive? Despite knowing his duty to the prince regent, the head ranger had some rather severe doubts.

Although, even the authority of Lancer had just kind of been accepted without question. Everyone knew the King was a bully who wanted to start a war. Lancer seemed like he was a nice kid, albeit a bit whacky, so why not let him be in charge instead? It was a question that no one had really worried about before. Now, the head ranger was going to have to put the safety of his men in jeopardy. It seemed like a much more important question all of a sudden.

The lift stopped with a clack and a jolt. Not about to show his nerves to his men, the head ranger straightened up before sliding out onto the parapet. Two rangers were up here keeping watch over the narrow valley that led down into the Forest. At the valley's head was a narrow span of stone that connected Card Castle to the lands to the west. Upon seeing him, the two rangers snapped smartly to attention.

"Any sign of the Knight?" asked the head ranger.

"None yet," reported one of the lookouts. "The last civilian left the castle a few minutes ago."

"Good, good." The head ranger nodded, a little absentmindedly.

The other two ruddins exchanged a quick glance. "Um, sir?" began one, clearly nervous, "It might not be our place but, what is going on?"

_That is the question, _thought the head ranger. He wasn't about to reveal his doubts to the rank-and-file though. "Knight's turned hostile to the prince," he snapped, "that's all we need to know."

"But sir, we can't fight him!"

The head ranger looked at his subordinate sharply. Had he just been a regular ruddin his speaking out might be understandable. But this darkner was supposed to be a ranger. They feared nothing! They were disciplined, professional soldiers. Except, well, they were probably going to fold to the Knight almost straight away. None of them were ready for this.

"I-I'm sorry, sir," stammered the ranger, realising he'd spoken out of turn.

"No," sighed the head ranger, "it's all right. You're not wrong, either; we can't beat him. That's not our place to worry about though. Our job is to fight for whoever sits on the throne. That's what our training is for! So we're going to fight, no matter what the odds are! Shimmer shammer!"

"Shimmer shammer!" repeated the two rangers, snapping up straight.

"Good," nodded the head ranger, "Now, you boys keep watch up here, and send out if you-

"Actually sir," cut in one of the two sentries, "I think that's him now."

"What?" The head ranger scooted over to the edge of the wall and looked down.

In the midst of the valley far below was a dark shape. It seemed so small and unassuming at this distance. A flash of light reflecting off of polished armour told a different story. Bit by bit, the shape of the Knight grew larger and clearer as he drew ever closer. The head ranger watched in grim silence as the shape stopped in the middle of the path. He could almost feel the Knight's stern gaze boring into him, even at this distance.

"Turn out the guard," he said, not taking his eyes off of the Knight, who had started up the valley again. "We hold the bridge for as long as we can."

* * *

"What's taking him so long?" wondered Susie, gritting her teeth impatiently as she looked towards the stairs to the roof.

"Leave him be, Susie," said Ralsei, "Kris just needs some time."

"It's been, what, twenty minutes now?" asked Susie, turning her scowl onto Ralsei. "We've only got some much time before the Knight gets here. For all we know he could be right outside the doors!"

"Susie, he's not-

A knock resounded through the throne room. Lancer yelped and dove for cover behind the throne. Ralsei's fur stood on end and he took several large steps backwards. Susie made a low growl, summoning her axe and shifting her weight into a fighting stance.

There was a pause, and the knock came again. "Your majesty?" came a muffled voice from the far side.

Everyone in the room heaved a sigh of relief. "It's just a ruddin," said Ralsei. "Come in!" he called. With some difficulty the ruddin managed to shove the heavy door halfway open. He bounced hastily up the steps, almost falling flat on his face as he reached the top.

"Your majesty?" he asked, looking around for Lancer.

"What?" asked the spade, poking his head out from behind the throne.

"Oh, uh, the rangers sent me," explained the ruddin. His voice was squeaky. "They told me to tell you that the Knight is nearly here. Everyone's already gone home, so they've shut the gate and are going to hold down the bridge."

"Told you!" said Susie, looking over at Ralsei. It probably wasn't the best time to try and act smug, but at this rate she might not get many more chances. Ralsei didn't say anything. He was fidgeting wildly, tapping his fingers together and looking from left to right like the answer to their predicament might have been left lying around the throne room. "So, what are we gonna do?" demanded Susie.

"I don't know!" shouted Ralsei, scowling. Susie took a step back. She had never known Ralsei to snap like that before. He seemed to deflate immediately. "I'm sorry," he said, "it's just, for most of our journey I was just having faith and following the prophecy. It didn't talk about stuff like this though. I'm kinda lost on what to do."

All three of them looked towards the upstairs. Susie hadn't realised just how much they had been depending on Kris to think of something. And now it seemed like he didn't have anything. She looked over at Lancer, who had stepped out from behind the throne. His father's throne. He seemed so small and helpless. So did Ralsei for that matter.

"Dam it," Susie growled. Everyone looked back at her. "Fine, we'll do things my way!" she said, brandishing her axe. "I don't know about you guys, but I'm not gonna let this guy just smash me to dust without a fight!"

"R-right," nodded Lancer. He didn't look very sure of himself.

"I'll take the front," said Susie, striding towards the doors downstairs, "Lancer, you keep behind me and throw your attacks at him. Ralsei, you heal anyone who gets hit too bad. And I guess, if we manage to hit this guy a few times, try and use that sleeping spell of yours on him. I reckon that's our best shot."

"Wait, S-Susie!" protested Ralsei.

"What?!" she demanded, whirling to face him, "You don't have a plan, Kris sure as hell isn't giving us one, so this is what we've got. You don't like it? You can stay here until that tin can assface comes up here and takes you out! I'm going!"

Ralsei stared at her with wide eyes. They looked even larger through his glasses. He seemed so young all of a sudden. Then his eyes narrowed. "Ok," he said. "I mean, I can't really leave one of my friends to fight on her own."

Susie found herself grinning. "Right," she said. "Friends don't run out on each other. Hey, you," she added, turning to the ruddin, who was watching the three of them with confusion and worry all over his features. "You go upstairs and tell our friend that he can come charging in and save the day whenever he's ready. We're going to fight." The ruddin hesitated, then nodded before scurrying towards the other side of the room. "Ok," Susie growled, tightening her grip on her axe, "let's do this."

* * *

The portcullis exploded into a dozen pieces of twisted metal that went flying across the courtyard. A tall, dark blur came hurtling into the castle. Five rangers tried to form a wall, their spears thrust forwards. The air whistled as twin swords arched through it, cleaving the spears in two. Gauntleted hands with spindly fingers seized rangers and hurled them aside. One tried to jab forward with his broken spear, only for it to be snatched mid attack. The ranger was pulled in and then grabbed by the throat. He was then thrown, spinning wildly, into another ranger who was still trying to get to his feet after being knocked down in the initial rush.

Ruddin rangers lining the walls around the courtyard sent down hails of diamond shaped magic attacks. The dark blur dashed forwards, the attacks cracking against the flagstones behind him. A dozen pairs of astonished eyes watched as the blur leapt up and vaulted off the courtyard wall. In a pristine backflip it flew up, up, and backwards onto the top of the gatehouse. In a single leap it had cleared three stories of height.

Spears and magical attacks were swiped aside by whirling swords as one-by-one the rangers were taken down. Several were sent launching off of the edge by kicks to land in heaps in the courtyard below. One was launched into three of his fellow, knocking them down like a ball into pins. Two had their spears hacked apart and were then hurled bodily through one of the castle windows. The few that were left scattered, scrambling to fall back to the interior of the castle. With a rush of air the blur jumped down from the walls.

The Knight landed in the centre of the courtyard. All around him were unconscious or dazed ruddin rangers. From here and there came a moan of pain or a call for help. Yet none of them were dead, though a few had been brought alarmingly close. Straightening up, the Knight sheathed both his swords with a flourish. Not making so much as a cursory glance to left or right he strode forwards, shoving the heavy stone doors of the keep open like they were made of plywood.

Inside the keep, a few more ruddins had assembled to try and block his path. Not even bothering to draw his swords the Knight charged into them. Two were knocked to the ground straight away. The one on his left he launched with a well-placed kick that sent him crashing into his comrade. A final ruddin jabbed at him with his spear. In a flash the Knight moved around and grasped the spear before snapping it in half. One of his arms shot out and grabbed the ruddin, lifting him high. With a short grunt of annoyance the Knight smashed the ruddin into the floor, where he left him to lie, unconscious.

Somewhere back there he supposed there must have been the head ranger. In truth they had all been such a miserable excuse for a defence force that the Knight had barely been able to tell the difference. He strode on, deeper into the castle.

* * *

They hadn't even gotten to the elevator before Ralsei heard crashing noises from downstairs. There were a few startled squeaks, several loud thumps and then silence. He looked over at Susie, questioningly.

"I guess he's on his way up," grunted Susie. It amazed Ralsei that in spite of everything she still didn't seem to be scared. Inside he could feel his soul trembling, but Susie was still holding strong and defiant. Then it occurred to Ralsei that perhaps that was her fear. Her fear drove her aggression. He noticed how tightly her jaw was clenched, how hard she was gripping the haft of her axe. Susie was no less scared then he was.

Sounds of rattling and grinding gears filled the hallway as the lift descended. It stopped at the ground floor with a distant 'clunk'. A second passed, then two, and the lift began to rise again. "Remember," growled Susie, "stay behind me." Ralsei nodded. She wasn't looking at him though. Her eyes, like Ralsei's and Lancer's, were trained on the elevator door.

Ralsei rubbed his hands together, a warm static buzz building up between them as he prepared his magic. The lift rumbled as it rose. Lancer raised one of his hands, conjuring several pre-emptive magic attacks. There was a clacking of mechanics as the lift came to a stop. Susie stood with her feet apart and her axe held forwards. The door opened.

There was just enough time for Ralsei to make out a tall, gleaming, silver figure. Then with a rush like a hurricane the Knight came at them. In less than two seconds he had crossed the length of the hallway. Lancer threw his attacks, but they were all sliced into a million tiny fragments by a tornado of spinning blades. The Knight pressed in, lashing out at Susie who was holding the middle of the corridor. She did her best to duck, dodge and block, but two blades still connected, tearing ugly furrows in her.

Lancer hurled more attacks, forcing the Knight to use his two upper swords as shields to cut them out of the air. Ralsei reached out with his magic, and the yellow light leapt from between his hands to Susie, binding her wounds shut. The monster girl charged forwards, trying to attack while the Knight was distracted with Lancer's attacks. Two swords proved more than enough for him to fend off Susie's attacks though. With one blade he caught her axe and thrust it to the side, while with the other he stabbed at her head. Just in time Susie managed to jump back, the sword making a shallow cut on the end of her snout.

The Knight pressed on, his swords a twisting mess of razor-edged metal that Ralsei couldn't hope to follow. Lancer conjured a magic chain and swung it at the Knight, only for him to dodge and slice it cleanly in half with one sword. Hastily the three of them fell back, Susie desperately trying to keep clear of the whirling swords. Seven times they bit into her, and each time Ralsei healed her. Already his energy was being drained. He had done a lot of healing already today, and there was only so much magic he could draw from his soul before he'd run dry.

Ralsei and Lancer held the doors to the Throne Room open as Susie ran through them, one of the Knight's swords little more than a hair's breadth away from her. The two princes swung the doors shut and scrambled up to the top of the stairs. Quickly, Ralsei put a hand on Susie's shoulder and healed her yet again, panting from the effort.

The Throne Room doors proved a totally ineffective barricade as the Knight burst through them and bounded up the stairs. Susie shoved Ralsei away and blocked two swords with her axe. The other two stabbed into her stomach.

"Susie!" cried Lancer, his desperation echoing through the room. Ralsei looked on in horror as Susie staggered, clutching at the two freshly punched holes in her middle. Putting away one of his swords, the Knight reached out with a left arm and grabbed her by the throat. Susie's axe fell towards the floor, vanishing into magic smoke before it hit the ground. The Knight hoisted her high into the air, her feet kicking. Susie grabbed at the gauntleted hand and tugged desperately, trying to free herself, but it did nothing.

"Behold, young princes," said the Knight, voice filled with icy daggers, "The fate that befalls those who oppose the will of the Dark." Lancer screamed something and threw an attack at the Knight. He swatted it aside without even looking. Susie choked and gagged as her life force was gradually crushed away.

Ralsei found that he couldn't move. All he could do was stare, frozen in terror. The prophecy had failed him. He and his friends would die here, making a futile attempt at resistance. _Archa, help!_

...

A bolt of red light shot across the room. It struck the Knight directly in the head and he cried out in pain, dropping Susie. She hit the ground hard and lay still, clutching herself tightly as her body spasmed in agony. The Knight staggered backwards, his free hand plastered against his visor, which was giving off an acrid smelling smoke. Ralsei looked to the far side of the Throne Room.

Kris was there. A red glow was fading from his eyes as he strode into the room, drawing his sword. The Knight, one hand still held to his face, snapped towards him. "You," he hissed, "I will make you suffer for this, human." Kris didn't reply. He ran forwards and rolled underneath the two swords the Knight tried to hack his head off with. The human blocked the third sword cleanly and danced around the Knight in a circle. He dodged beautifully, slipping to the left and right to narrowly avoid a hail of frenzied blows.

"What are you guys doing?!" he shouted, not taking his eyes off the Knight. "Run!"

Snapping out of his stupor, Ralsei dashed over to Susie. She was panting and grunting heavily, and the dark prince could tell she was practically a papercut away from turning to dust. There was intense bruising all around her neck. Dredging up as much magic as he had left, Ralsei poured it all into her, furiously willing the injuries to heal. Magic rushed out of his body, yellow light pouring into Susie, dragging her wounds closed at what seemed like a gratuitously slow pace. A pressure began to build rapidly inside Ralsei's head, swelling up as he pushed his soul harder and further. If it grew too much...

A gasp from Susie as the wounds in her stomach closed went off like a gunshot in Ralsei's ears and he stopped healing. The pressure in his head receded, sending everything in the room spinning. Ralsei was vaguely aware of Susie pulling him to his feet. It had all become a haze of colours, the sound of clashing swords turning into the booming of distant drums. He staggered, but Susie caught him.

Ralsei could hear shouting as he was pulled towards the stairs leading up. It took all of his effort to move his legs and not fall down. _Keep stepping, keep stepping, keep stepping, _he willed himself. Suddenly they were outside, and Ralsei became aware of a loud rushing sound. The dark fountain loomed towards the sky in front of him.

Behind the group came Kris, the Knight close on his heels. The world around Ralsei seemed to refocus a little, enough that he could hear Kris screaming, "Go! Get to the Fountain!" The Knight burst up the stairs behind him, a mess of armoured limbs and swords.

Ralsei ran as hard and as fast he had ever run across the rooftop. He felt certain he would trip and fall; he knew he would, he knew it. He would fall and the Knight would dice him up into a thousand little pieces. Ralsei shut his eyes tight and kept running.

By some miracle he reached the far end and got down the stairs. The Fountain was right before them, roaring upwards. All the noise pounded in Ralsei's ears like a chorus of jackhammers. What should they do now? How was he supposed to go through? Ralsei stared at the Fountain, eyes unseeing as the question of 'how?' filled his mind to the brim. He realised that Susie and Lancer were no longer with him and the only logical thought was that they must have gone through.

Looking over his shoulder he saw Kris sprinting towards him. Death was behind him, shimmering, silver death. Not knowing what else to do, Ralsei turned and jumped, headfirst, into the rushing black torrent. The force of the fountain hit like a two-story wave, throwing him up, up into the sky. Ralsei wanted to scream in fear but couldn't open his mouth. All around him was rushing darkness. He lost all sense of which way was up or down, left or right. Then there was something rushing towards him. It was a small room with a wooden floor, and the thought occurred to Ralsei that it looked rather cozy, before he slammed into it.

* * *

Kris sat up, rubbing his sore neck. He had not landed well, slamming into the empty classroom on his upper back. If it had been a regular fall, he would probably have broken his neck. Thankfully the passage through the dark fountain seemed to grant some protection from the damage normally inflicted by gravity.

He looked down at himself. Green and yellow stripped jumper, faded jeans, no sword, and thin fingered, normal coloured hands. They had made it. His heart was still racing, but they had made it. Excited he looked up to see the others, only to freeze, staring in shock.

Susie was there, back to her regular, purple self, with her heavy jacket and torn jeans. She was looking at the same thing he was. Lancer was not there. Only three people were sitting on the classroom floor. The third one, while he looked a lot like him, was not Ralsei. His hat and glasses were gone. Instead of robes and a scarf he wore a green jumper with yellow stripes and dark brown velvet trousers. He also had no horns and was a few inches shorter.

The stranger looked around in bewilderment. When his eyes fell on Kris he froze in shock, then scrambled back into the corner of the room. "Ralsei?" asked Susie.

Hesitantly, the monster took his eyes away from Kris for a moment to look at her. "Huh?" he murmured. Kris knew that voice. Its accent was a bit different from how he remembered it, but it was clearly still the same one.

"You," insisted Susie, "You're Ralsei, right?"

"N-no," stammered the monster, "I'm Asriel. Asriel Dreemurr."

* * *

**And the plot grows ever thicker! People following this story as it's being posted might notice that I rewrote the description and made an edit to how Chapter 1 starts. I made the changes because I realised that the description was too cryptic, and was then followed by a scene that was equally as cryptic. This is just me trying to make the story a bit more attention grabbing, as it's hard to judge if a story seems like it'll be good or not when the description and opening scene are so confusing.**

**Of course, if you're reading this in the future then you don't even know what I'm talking about. You'll never get to see the original chapter 1, or the original description. Mwahahaha! In all seriousness, I hope you guys are liking this story so far. It's been a bit of work to keep updating regularly, but it's a good habit to build, and so far I've kept up. **

**So, yeah. Have a nice day! Or don't, I'm not your mother.**


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

"What is this?" hissed Susie, "what the hell happened?" She and Kris were in one corner of the room, whispering conspiratorially. The young monster that claimed to be Asriel watched them talk nervously.

"I-I don't know," stammered Kris. Something in the human's head looked to have been knocked loose by this. His eyes stared at her in blind disorientation. "I mean, he's not actually him. He can't be."

Susie glanced over her shoulder. The maybe-Asriel looked back at her with big, worried eyes. "He looks just like him though," Susie insisted, snapping back to Kris. "I mean, not like he looks now but, from what I can remember that's what he looked like when he was a kid. He's obviously a boss monster at least." Another thought shoved its way to the forefront of her mind. The sudden insanity of the newcomer had caused her to forget for a second but- "Where's Lancer?!" she cried, clapping her hands to either side of her head.

"Susie, calm down," pleaded Kris. She ignored him though, pulling open all the classroom cupboards as if she might find Lancer inside of one.

"He must have come out in the supply closet!" she said, opening the door and hurrying out into the hallway. Kris didn't follow her.

Her feet skidded on the tiles as Susie made the sharp turn to reach the blue double doors. Flinging them open she tore inside, only to find stacks of plastic tubs and haphazardly stowed craft materials. On the floor were several loose pieces of paper, pencils and sticks of chalk. Susie stuck her head back out into the corridor and called. "Lancer! Lancer, are you there?!"

"Quiet!" hissed Kris from the old classroom, poking his head around the door, "We're not supposed to be in here." He looked worried; lines of stress carved onto his face. Susie barely noticed. She peered down the dingy, shadowed hallways, hoping to see a short, naïve figure come bustling around one of the corners. He would probably be scared. He would be wondering where everyone else was. Unless, of course...

Susie turned back to the supply closet, looking again, even though she knew it was pointless. Had Lancer somehow been left behind? If he had been then he would still be back in the Darkworld with the Knight. What would he do to Lancer for trying to help her and Kris? For being her friend? Lancer was going to suffer for that.

Snarling, Susie lashed out at the small room. White magic darts zipped through the air, peppering the containers and shelves. A few sheets of paper were sent flying, drifting down to thicken the carpet of stationary. If she had her axe, she would hacked most of the stupid plastic tubs apart. But she was back here in her world. Her world, where she was constantly held back by her miserable excuse for magic. Now, it was all she could do to angrily grab one of the brightly coloured containers and throw to the floor. The impact popped the lid off, scattering bundles of coloured pencils everywhere. They had all been organised neatly into sets containing one of each colour before being tied with a rubber band. It was the exact sort of thing Kris's mom would do.

Susie stared at the limited chaos she had managed to cause, then turned away. She stormed back to the old classroom and advanced on Kris. "Take us back!" she demanded, "Take us back, right now!"

Kris backed away, almost tripping over an old stuffed animal lying in the middle of the floor. "I don't control it," he said. "And there's no point! We'd just go back to the Badlands."

"We can't just leave Lancer behind!" roared Susie, "You saw what that armoured freak was like; he'll hurt Lancer! He'll punish him for helping us! He might even kill him!"

"Lancer's not, Lancer's not back there," said Kris. Susie had pressed him all the way to the wall. There was a furtive look in his eyes as they twitched from left to right. His teeth were bared in a frightened snarl. Susie hesitated. "I was behind you, remember," Kris went on, "I saw you and lancer enter the Fountain. He went through, I'm sure of it. Just like I saw Ralsei go through," he added, making a sideways glance towards the other corner of the room. Susie didn't look; she didn't give a dam.

"Then where is he?" she demanded, planting one hand against the wall in order to loom over Kris.

To her surprise he responded by standing taller and meeting her gaze with defiance. "I don't know!" he snapped, "I don't how the Fountain works, ok? We knew something might happen if they tried to use it. It's not my fault!" Kris's eyes smouldered and for a second Susie thought she could see a small red light dancing across his brown irises. Her mind went back for a moment to the Throne Room. That red magic attack must have been thrown by him. Since when was Kris able to use magic?

Susie took a step back, her shoulders slumping. "I-I know," she sighed, "I'm sorry, I just, I can't let Lancer get hurt because of me. If we hadn't gone back today then he wouldn't have been in any danger to begin with. And it was my idea to go today. That means it's my fault if he's... if he's..." She couldn't say it.

The low burning in Kris's eyes died, though he kept standing straight. "We'll figure this out," he said. His voice sounded strange all of a sudden. There was an uncharacteristic certainty to it. "Wherever Lancer's gone, we'll find him."

"Right," nodded Susie, a meagre shred of confidence returning to her.

"First, I think we should...shit."

Susie glanced up at Kris in surprise. She'd never heard him swear before. He was looking over at the back corner by the cupboards but there was nothing there that Susie could see. Oh. Oh shit. The kid was gone.

* * *

Sans slumped into a corner of the sofa. The worn, stained cushions parted, so that he sank several inches in. It might be nice, he reflected, to just sink all the way in, immersing himself in soft fabric and cushions. Sure would be nice to take a break. A real break, instead of all the failed attempts he made every day.

Even though Sans had only worked about two hours today he felt exhausted. He would like to have said it was all the thinking he'd been doing. In reality he'd mostly just sat with his back to the bunker door and practiced knock-knock jokes on it. He'd done that for four hours. _yeesh. guess i am the world's best when it comes to avoiding work, huh? _Sans thought, feeling a touch bitter.

The fact of the matter was that he had been toying with the idea of giving up on all this nonsense. Whatever was going on seemed to be complicated, and was probably dangerous. A nagging feeling also told him that there was nothing he could do about it anyway. So, instead of making any sort of decision, Sans had killed time. He had talked and talked but had barely even put his mind to the issue that had brought him out to the woods in the first place. When he finally brought himself back around to the mystery he was meant to be investigating, Sans didn't have much. There was so little that he had to go off. He didn't even have any real leads he could investigate.

Well, almost no leads. There was Kris, Sans supposed. If Kris knew him then maybe Sans could just try talking to him? They seemed to have been friendly after all. And on top of that there was his brother, Asriel. He seemed to be a pretty nice kid; a touch of charisma, plenty friendly and from what he'd heard he was not only a gifted caster but also a protégé in maths and science. Not too different from Sans in his younger days. The skeleton gave a mirthless chuckle. _wonder if he'll end up drained of all his aspirations too? _he mused, _maybe we can hang out and do nothing together._

In seriousness though, something about Asriel had felt strange. Sans had gotten weird feelings from several of the people here after he and Papyrus moved. Kris's parents, Toriel and Asgore Dreemurr, had been big ones. But there were other, seemingly more random, instances. A police officer he'd exchanged a few words with on the street; one of the teachers from the school; the retiring elemental that he'd bought the store from; even a strange, shy ghost who dropped in once to ask if they had any hairspray. Sans couldn't imagine why he'd need it, given that his hair was incorporeal. All of these people had given Sans this weird dizzy feeling when he'd met them. At first, he hadn't been able to understand it. Now he was pretty sure it was some kind of déjà vu. He had met these monsters before. How and when he had no idea. It was made especially strange by the fact that he hadn't gotten that feeling from Kris, even though the human clearly knew and remembered Sans.

Asriel though; there had been something different about him. Even though the kid had been as cheery as sunshine, a part of Sans had felt nervous. Deep in the empty cavity where his stomach might have been, a knot had been twisting. It was like he could see a shadow following the kid. Sans felt that there was something sinister about him, even though that made no sense. All rational thought told Sans that Asriel Dreemurr was a kind-hearted monster with a good head on his shoulders. And yet, the faint trace of some unremembered horror had been prickling at the back of Sans' neck the whole time they talked.

Groaning, Sans pulled his hood down over his eyes to block out the steady, yellow, electric light filling the room. It felt as invasive and exhausting as the thoughts crowding around inside his skull. It would be so much easier to just give up on all this. A small voice told Sans it would be better if he did.

**_"Give up."_**

A frown twisted Sans' face. He couldn't, could he? That thing, whatever she was, was evil. There was an ironclad certainty of that inside Sans' mind. Whatever it was she was trying to do, he needed to stop it. He needed to, even though the thought of trying dragged at his soul. Sans felt exhausted just thinking about it. And his chest itched. Whatever was going on, he had to figure it out.

_guess that means i gotta talk to the kid, then, _grumbled Sans. He probably shouldn't waste any time. With a good deal of groaning and muttering, Sans half climbed half rolled off the couch onto his feet. _all right, now where do i find 'im?_

* * *

"Where's he gone?!" Susie cried, looking around the tiny room.

"He must have slipped out the door while we were talking," realised Kris, "Come on!" He raced out of the room, all his frustration with Susie instantly forgotten. They couldn't just have this child Asriel go running through town screaming for help. From his looks earlier it seemed like he was afraid. He had woken up in a small room with two strangers and no idea how he got there. Chances were he thought he'd been kidnapped. Not only would that cause a good deal of panic on its own, but if Toriel, Asgore or the real Asriel saw him... Well, that would be rather hard to explain. Everything about the Darkworld would come out in a mess, and things would quickly get completely out of Kris's control.

Once out in the hall it was immediately obvious which way the young monster had gone. The front doors had been left standing wide open so that the late afternoon sun was streaming in. The long shadow of a tree outside was thrown over the tiled floor. Kris squinted as he ran headlong into the light and began belting down the footpath to the street. He only got a few steps before coming to a sudden halt.

Young Asriel didn't seem to have gotten very far. He was stood stock still in the middle of the path. His head was thrown back with his eyes fixed on the sky like it was an eagle and he was a rabbit. Asriel's shoulders shook, his jaw hung loose, and his hands were clutched tight to his chest. As Kris halted a few steps away, the monster whirled round to look at him. His eyes were wide, not just with fear, but with utterly bewildered astonishment. "H-how?" he asked, "How did you bring me here? Who are you?"

"My name's Kris," said Kris, taking the easier of the two questions. He tried to speak slowly, like his mom did when she talked to small children. "My friend's name is Susie," he continued, gesturing back towards the building.

"Hey," grunted Susie, who had apparently followed them. It sounded like she was stood in the doorway behind them, but Kris didn't dare turn around to check. He was afraid that Asriel would bolt if he took his eyes off of him for so much as a second.

"We don't want to hurt you," said Kris, putting on a small smile.

Asriel shook his head, unsatisfied. "How did you bring me here?" he repeated. "How are we on the Surface?"

_The surface of what? _wondered Kris. To his disappointment there was no answer. "I'm not sure what you mean," he said.

The monster's response was to bare his teeth and scowl. It was obvious he didn't believe Kris whatsoever. "Where are my mom and dad?" he demanded, "What did you do to them? Where's Chara?"

Kris blinked. It was like the world had stopped spinning for a moment. He had gotten that wrong, right? He must have done. "Who?" he asked.

"Chara!" repeated Asriel, "my sister, where is she? What did you do to her?!"

"S-sister?" stammered Kris. His own eyes were fast widening to match Asriel's. _What? _No response. _What?! _Still there was nothing. _Hey, talk to me! _snapped Kris, scowling in sudden annoyance. Inside his head he was met with nothing but dead silence. Actually, now that he thought about it, it had been silent ever since they got back from the Darkworld. Was the silence deliberate, or had something gone wrong? How did this Asriel know that name? What was he talking about?

"Kris, you ok?" asked Susie, suddenly appearing at his side.

Kris realised he'd been contorting his face at the pavement and staring. He must look insane. With a great degree of difficulty he managed to regain some measure of self-control. Looking up at Susie he straightened his face out. "Yeah, I'm good," he said, trying to sound like he meant it. "I just got, a bit muddled, that's all." Remembering the source of his confusion he turned back to the path.

Asriel hadn't left. Instead he was watching Kris like some dangerous and unpredictable predator. "Maybe," Kris began, talking to Susie in a low voice, "maybe you should try talking to him."

Susie made a vague noise of discomfort but nodded. "Ok," she muttered back, "it does seem like he's frightened of you. Can't imagine why." Kris took a step back, allowing Susie to move to the front. "Hey," she said, clearly trying to come across as non-threatening as possible. Asriel said nothing, instead he just stared at Susie mistrustfully. It was definitely a step up from the looks he had been giving Kris though.

The human backed up a few steps and sat in the doorway to the school, half listening as Susie tried to awkwardly calm the younger monster down. Kris put his hands to his head and tried to think clearly. _Talk me! _he demanded. _What's going on? How does he know you? _The silence persisted, almost stubbornly. _You must be able to hear me, right? Chara, what is going on? _If there was anyone there to hear Kris, they made no response. Giving up on that approach, Kris focused instead on just trying to calm the storm of his mind. Random thoughts were whipped around like sticks in a hurricane. They escaped any attempt he made to grab on to them. It was all he could do to form a coherent sentence. Nothing this insane had happened since he and Susie had discovered the Darkworld. And unlike then, Kris had nobody to tell him what to do or what to think. Biting his lip, Kris tried to focus on the conversation happening just a few feet away.

"-so, really, it's an accident," Susie was saying. "Somehow, you and our friend got mixed up or something. As soon as we figure out how, we can send you right back where you came from!" She forced an uncomfortable half grin.

The child Asriel still looked sceptical, but he seemed less tense. "I don't know," he murmured, "seems kinda crazy to me."

"Hah! You think it seems crazy to you!" laughed Susie. "Trust me kid, this is all pretty insane to me too. I mean, what are you, like, ten, or something?"

"I'm twelve!" protested Asriel, pouting.

"Pfft! Same difference," said Susie.

"You can't be mean to me!" snapped Asriel, "I'm the prince!"

"Prince?" asked Kris from his place in the doorway. The two monsters looked at him sharply, seemingly having forgotten he was there.

"Yeah!" said Asriel, nodding emphatically, "Crown Prince Asriel, Keeper of the Golden Flower, and um, Master of the, uh, relicw- relicar- no, wait," he paused, thinking intensely. "Reliquary! Master of the Reliquary!" he cried, suddenly remembering. "Although," he added, looking sheepish, "mom does most of it cause, I'm not old enough yet."

"And, you're father's Asgore, right?" asked Kris.

"Yeah! Asgore Dreemurr, King of the Monsters," said Asriel.

"What?" exclaimed Susie, "Asgore's not a king; he grows flowers! And if he's your dad then why don't you know Kris?"

Asriel stared at her in confusion. "I don't think he's my Asriel," said Kris. "What if he's from a parallel universe or something?"

"That sounds dumb," scoffed Susie.

"We were in another world less than an hour ago!" sputtered Kris, "How is that dumb?"

Susie muttered something unintelligible. "This is all some sci-fi nerd crap," she grumbled, "I don't know about any of this! And it still doesn't help us figure out what happened to Lancer, or Ralsei for that matter. And what are we going to do with him?" she asked, jerking a thumb at Asriel.

"We could try taking him back through the Dark Fountain," suggested Kris.

"But we need help," protested Susie. "That was the entire point of running away in the first place! If we just go back there like this, why should we expect things to be any different than before?!"

"uh, you kids ok there?" asked a deep voice. All three looked over to where a five-foot-tall figure in a blue hoodie was standing, framed in the light of the evening sun.

_Oh no._

* * *

**Sorry about the longer than usual delay on this one folks. I slammed into some serious writer's block for this chapter. There's a bit of a tricky patch of the story coming up where I have to start the transition between acts, and I'm still a little hazy when it comes to the plan. That means there might be a slightly longer delay for the next chapter as well, while I try to think things out a bit more carefully. No sense screwing things up now, after all.**


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

The scene before Sans left him feeling completely perplexed, though he tried not to show it. He had been wandering around in an idle search, strafing up and down quiet streets with his gaze. It was an inefficient way of looking. The best thing to do would have been to go to Toriel's house and ask where Kris was. Odds were that he'd be there, and if he wasn't Sans could have gotten a pointer in the right direction. But checking around town first took longer. It meant Sans might have ended up wasting the entire evening. Once it got dark, he could have justified heading home and so successfully shouldered the task of talking with Kris off to the Sans of tomorrow.

It seemed like fate intended to screw Sans over though. Here, in front of the Victorian brick face of the school building, was his quarry and two others. One was a teenage monster Sans had seen around town once or twice. She had purple skin, a protruding snout and long, unkempt hair with a fringe that shadowed her eyes. Her clothes looked like they wanted to scream 'rebel' but could only manage to grunt 'poor'.

The third was a child, wearing a stripped sweater done in the traditional style. In old monster culture kids were expected to wear stripes to mark them out until they came of age. A few parents still followed the custom nowadays; most no longer bothered. The kid was white and furry, with floppy ears and stubby little horns. Their eyes were large and panicky.

The other two looked nervous, like Sans had caught them vandalising or something. He hadn't arrived in time to hear what the shouting had been about, but he could practically smell the tension in the air.

"We're fine," said Kris, taking a few hurried steps out of the doorway. Come to think of it, why were the doors to the school open? School was shut for summer break, right? Were these kids allowed to be here?

_maybe i did catch 'em being vandals, _Sans wondered. "you sure?" he asked, raising a bony eyebrow, "sounded like you guys were having a pretty loud convo."

"It's fine," repeated Kris, "it wasn't important." He glanced in his peripherals towards the kid in the striped sweater. The child was watching the other three, obviously on edge. Surreptitiously, the girl put a hand on his shoulder, causing him to flinch. He held still though.

"this uh, your cousin?" asked Sans, looking the child up and down.

"Yes," said Kris, a touch too quickly.

"His name's Ralsei," added the girl. Her tone was pointed. Sans ignored it.

"nice to meet ya," he grinned, kneeling down in front of the kid. Ralsei drew back half a step, apparently shy. "my name's sans, sans the skeleton," Sans went on, keeping his smile lazy and friendly. "i don't think we've met either," he added, straightening up to look at the girl.

"Name's Susie," she grunted. "You want something?" she asked, scowling from underneath her ragged fringe.

"i mean, if you guys are busy," began Sans, running his eyes lazily over the trio and on to the open school building.

"Not really," said Kris. The human's face was blank and unflinching.

"ah, well then," said Sans, focusing on Kris, "i did have somethin' i wanted to talk with you about, kid. it's about the day when we first met." Sans gave a wink to match up with "first met". He had winked the first time they spoke. Naturally, it had been a bluff then. It was a way to play off the human's strange words as if he understood them. Now it was a signal that Sans had something important to say.

It clearly worked, as Kris stiffened in response. "That, yeah," he stammered, put off guard. "Uh, Susie, do you want to take, Ralsei, inside for a bit?" he asked.

The girl was put out, glowering at Sans with a dark menace. He grinned back, unfazed. "Ok," she said, yielding. "Come on kid, let's go. Just for a bit, all right?" She tugged gently on the child's shoulder. His head span from Sans to Kris to the girl and then back to Sans. There was a long moment of hesitation. The kid's eyes were like polished saucers. Sans half expected him the shout something. In the end he nodded and let Susie lead him back inside the school. In the doorway he glanced over his shoulder at Sans, biting his lip. But again he seemed to change his mind and hurried inside.

Sans and Kris stood together outside the school. Their long shadows fell dark and burnt over the neatly trimmed lawn. Somewhere deep inside the building Sans heard a door open and close. A bird twittered from a nearby tree. The sinking sun flashed off of dark tinted windows.

At last, Sans broke the silence. "so, how things been with you?" he asked.

Kris responded with a dead stare.

"that great, huh?" mused Sans. "gotta say, me too; if i'm bein' honest here. had a lot on my mind lately, y'know?"

Kris nodded, slowly. "You, just moved," he said, speaking slowly. "It must be, busy for you."

"eh, not so much," said Sans with a shrug, "once the shop was set up things were pretty chill. not a lot goes down in this place it seems."

"It's quiet," agreed Kris.

"yeah. if you got problems around here, they're probably not local. it's probably something that happened before you came here."

The human fidgeted, not looking at Sans. He made a weak shrug.

"man, you're a lot less chatty than when we spoke the other day," said Sans, "you misplace your talking bone, old pal?" The point of the sentence might normally have been the bone reference. This time all the emphasis fell on the words 'old pal'.

"I, wasn't really myself then," explained Kris. "Sorry, I hope I wasn't being rude."

Did that mean that the kid didn't know Sans? Had it just been misplaced enthusiasm? No. He had been in that photograph from the lab. So had the girl, Susie, for that matter. Somehow it had slipped Sans' mind. Kris was holding something back. He wasn't taking the opportunities that Sans was giving him to come clean. Sans took a few steps closer, scanned around them for any idle listeners and decided to be blunt.

"look kid," he said, "let me cut to chase: there's some weird stuff goin' down right now, and i don't think it's the first time. i gotta know: what do you know?"

Kris stared at him; jaw clenched tight. "What do you mean?" he asked.

"you knew me," pressed Sans, "when we "met" last week. quite frankly, i'm pokin' around in the dark at the moment. if you got any kind of light you can shed, it'd be appreciated to no end."

The human squirmed, desperately looking from left to right. He seemed to be hoping that someone would come and bail him out of this situation. But no one came. Resigned, Kris locked eyes with Sans. He spoke in an artificially even tone, his body tense with poorly suppressed anxiety. "I told you," he said, "I wasn't myself then."

Sans frowned. "then who were you?" he asked.

"Dunno," said Kris. He kept staring into Sans' eye sockets. It was aggressive.

"you...someone else often?" Sans asked.

"Not anymore," Kris replied sharply.

"but, "you", did know me at the time, right?"

Kris hesitated and the eye contact broke. The flickering of his gaze betrayed the chaotic nature of his thoughts, though the mask of his face held steady. "I'm not sure," he admitted, "It seemed like it. But, honestly Sans, I don't know much about you."

Sans deflated with a snort, his shoulders sagging. "figures," he muttered. "don't suppose i could have a chat with other you, could i?" he asked, sceptically.

"No!" said Kris. The reply was immediate and carried a tang of fear.

"wow," said Sans with a wry grin, "they that bad, huh?"

Kris hesitated. "I don't really know much about that stuff," he said, "What happened before...I wasn't there. At least I don't remember it."

"that makes two of us i guess," sighed Sans. "well, even if this other guy's scary, i sure as hell ain't. heh, it was a chore just to drag myself out here to talk to ya about it." Kris rubbed his left arm, preferring to look at the ground rather than at Sans. "look kid, all i know is somethin' serious happened. i dunno what, but i'm betting it'll come up again. maybe it is already for all i know. so, if you have anything you think i ought'a know, come tell me. we cool?"

Kris nodded, though his body language didn't inspire much confidence. There were obviously things he wasn't going to talk about. Not that Sans could really blame him. If Kris was to be believed, then they barely knew each other. That and whoever Sans had actually spoken to a week ago seemed to frighten Kris. Given that that person had talked to Sans as a friend, Kris might have extended that fear over to the skeleton as well. At least he had given Sans some new information.

"oh yeah," Sans realised, tilting his head back to focus on the school, "what were you guys up to, anyway? i'd have thought the school'd be closed."

"Uh, that," said Kris, "it's a game we were playing. My...cousin; he really likes it. I used my mom's keys to get in."

"breaking **into **school?" asked Sans, "when i was a kid we all wanted to break **out**."

"We didn't break in," protested Kris, "I used the keys."

"and i'm sure if i told your mom about this she'd be totally cool with it," said Sans, narrowing his eyes in a sly grin.

"Please don't do that!" sputtered Kris, holding up his hands in supplication. "We didn't break or steal anything!"

Sans laughed. "ah, don't sweat it kid," he said, "i've got no **bones **to pick with you. i ain't gonna rat you out."

"Thank you," sighed Kris, clearly relieved.

"welp, guess i'll let you get back to whatever you were up to. although," Sans glanced up at the darkening sky, "you might not wanna be out too long. no sense stressing out your mom after all."

Still smiling Sans turned to go. After only a couple of steps a thought struck him, and he turned back. "one last thing," he called, stopping Kris in the doorway. "this mutual friend of ours; there didn't happen to be anything...interesting, about their eyes, did there?"

* * *

Something prompted Asriel to pause on his walk home. After chatting with Papyrus's brother he had somehow managed to keep himself occupied wandering about town. He had dropped in on BP at his job, and the two of them had spent his break talking and catching up. It had been nice to talk to one of his old friends from school again. Mostly they'd just reminisced about 'old times'. Not that there were 'old times' for the two of them; Asriel had only left for college a year ago. Still, last summer seemed a far cry from where they all were now. It didn't take much actual change for things to feel very different.

Now, the sun was retreating behind the horizon. Its last sleepy rays painted the sky in bands of soft colour. From yellow, to orange, to red, to pink, to purple and finally to a blue that was growing darker and darker with each passing moment. A handful stars were already winking down at him.

Asriel looked around. The dusk was creeping in fast, covering the road and seeping between the trees. It was hard to see anything, but Asriel could have sworn he had heard someone on the path behind him. The short road that led to the Dreemur family home was flanked closely on either side by the woods. The deep shadows the trees cast made it hard for Asriel to be sure of what he was seeing.

"Hello?" he called, standing on his toes to try and see further. A shape moved between the trees, just a stone's throw away. A loud rustling echoed across to Asriel through the dusk as something or someone ran off into the woods. "Probably just a squirrel," he murmured.

That was a perfectly logical explanation, yet Asriel felt unnerved somehow. Rolling his eyes over how easily he was being spooked, he hastily made the half dozen strides over to where he had seen the shape. There was nobody there, of course. Asriel peered into the woods, but the darkness between the trees was so dense that he couldn't see anything. He was about to shrug it all off and hurry home, when something caught his eye.

Beside the footpath the grass grew thin and sparse. The ground was hard packed but with a loose layer of soil over the top. Some creature had left foot marks in the dirt. Asriel had to squat down to see them clearly. The tracks were paw prints of some kind. They were long and thin; much longer than Asriel's feet. At the very front were the markings of four toes.

"Not a squirrel then," muttered Asriel. Whatever it was, it had large feet. A monster of some kind? But then, why would they run off like that? Asriel's brow furrowed as he tried to remember where he'd seen this kind of footprint before. It had been in the playground at school. Some of the older students used to leave tracks like this. Rabbit tracks. What on Earth was one of the rabbits doing around here?

A sharp breeze caught Asriel in the back and he shuddered. Something about this seemed creepy. Stalkerish. _It's probably just some weird coincidence, _he thought, standing up. Even so, he found himself glancing several times over his shoulder as he walked home. There was nothing. Nothing except the trees, the road and the growing dark.

* * *

Susie looked up at the sound of the door opening. Faint light from outside framed Kris as he stood in the doorway. His face was harrowed and downcast, the shadow of his fringe covering his eyes. "We good?" asked Susie.

"Yeah," said Kris, "we're all right."

Little Asriel was watching Kris intently. Susie had tried to keep him distracted with the things in the room, but the kid had been too stressed out for that. In the end she had gotten him to talk about himself, as it seemed to be a subject he was comfortable with. He had told her all about his special royal duties and about his mom and dad. Where he came from Asgore and Toriel were apparently King and Queen of some place called "The Underground", which was where monsters lived. This Asriel had an adopted human sibling too, but it wasn't Kris. Instead, he had a big sister called Chara. The two seemed to be inseparable.

"What did that guy want?" asked Susie.

"Nothing really," said Kris. His voice was weary and monotone. "Just some stuff he wanted my mom to know about, that's all."

Susie wasn't sure she bought that. Kris looked pretty run-down for that talk to be as simple as all that. Then again, with all the insanity going on, she could understand being worn-out. "Anyway, what are we gonna do?" she asked. "It's getting late; we going back in, or not?"

"No, no," said Kris, shaking his head, "we can't do that yet. We're not... we're not ready for that. Besides, it's too late for stuff like that now. My mom's gonna start worrying about me."

"Then what do we do with the kid?" grunted Susie, jabbing a thumb in Asriel's direction, "Are we seriously going to try and pass him off as your cousin?"

"Of course not," said Kris. He looked at Asriel, weighing the young monster up. The kid stared back at Kris, almost defiant. "Asriel," he began, speaking slowly, "can you tell us please, what's the last thing you remember?"

The kid blinked at him. "Uh, I," he stammered. "I was in the garden," he said, "Chara and I were picking flowers for a cake."

"Who uses flowers to make a cake?" asked Susie.

"It's what it said in the book!" protested Asriel. "We were gonna make it for dad as a surprise. Chara was telling me about some of the different kinds of flowers they had on the Surface. I tripped and fell over. When I got up, I was...here, I think."

"You think?" asked Kris.

"I don't know," said Asriel defensively, "it's all foggy for me." He rubbed at his stubby horns anxiously.

"He's gotta be from another universe or something," grunted Susie, looking sideways at Kris.

"I thought you said that was sci-fi nerd crap?" wondered Kris, raising a sarcastic eyebrow.

"It is," grumbled Susie, "doesn't mean it's wrong. Just means it's dumb, that's all. He's got too many details to just be making this stuff up."

"I'm not a lair," muttered Asriel, scowling at Kris.

"I didn't say that," he said. Kris paused for a good while, thinking. "We need help," he said at last.

"No shit," snorted Susie, folding her arms.

A muffled gasp of horror came from Asriel. He put his hands over his mouth and stared at her in shock. "You can't say that!" he hissed. He looked from side to side, like some adult might be nearby, listening in.

Susie grinned at him. It reminded her of Lancer's reaction a week ago. He wasn't allowed to use so-called tier two swear words. He had looked at Susie like she was the most badass person he'd ever met, just for saying a stupid word. Lancer was this weird cross between incredibly innocent and incredibly devious. Thinking about him made Susie's heart sink.

"Where do we go?" she asked, turning to Kris. "The police? I don't think they'll believe us. Hell, I wouldn't believe us."

"We can't go to the police," agreed Kris, "but, I think I might know someone we can talk to. At least, even if he doesn't believe us, he can help take care of Asriel."

"Who?"

* * *

It was dark enough now that light was streaking out onto the road from people's houses. It slipped through cracks in curtains and around doors, or else blazed through uncovered windows. On the other side of the glass monster families went about their evening routines.

Past the houses, the various shops and small businesses all stood locked up and empty. No light came from their windows and doors. Instead their insides were dark and quiet, leaving their streets to be cast in shadow; these parts of town had been deserted for the night. The unspoken promise that in the morning they would all come back to life again seemed loose and untrustworthy. Only one store front gave off any light as the night set in.

It was very faint, gleaming out from a back room. The few tiny shards of yellow glow tumbled their way out through the shop window to fall on the footpath outside. Inside, past the countertop and the display shelves, past the racks of seeds, flowers and rugged gardening tools, there was a door. On the other side was a rough-and-ready room with worn, but soft, carpet.

At a small table a large monster sat hunched, waiting for a beat-up kettle to boil. A solitary mug sat ready nearby, the square tab of a tea bag hanging over the side. The monster half dozed, leaning on one of his huge hands. The town council wanted to add in a line of bright flowerbeds outside the town hall to brighten the place up a bit. He had been hard at work all day, measuring, digging and hauling earth. Tomorrow he'd set about planting in earnest. The kettle finished boiling with a 'click', and he stirred.

Asgore Dreemurr shifted himself out of his seat with a creak and a low sigh. Before he could take up the kettle, a series of soft musical notes came echoing into his home. The doorbell. The old boss monster shook his head and stopped to take down a second mug before going to the door. _Perhaps I should have a talk with that boy, _he thought as he went. Kris had been staying out late almost every day now and had come back here instead of his mother's house many times. Asgore couldn't help but worry that something was wrong, even though he had been putting a positive spin on things so far. Kris had not taken his parents' break-up well, certainly not any better than Asgore himself had. And yet Asgore had been more focused on his own troubles than those of his son. It would have been dishonest to call it anything less than a shame against Asgore, for leaving not just Kris but Asriel to suffer through the divorce in silence.

He weaved quickly through his darkened shop to the front door. What he found on the other side gave him pause. Kris was there, looking up at him with nervous eyes, but he wasn't alone. A gruff looking monster girl was standing behind him. She didn't seem like she wanted to be there.

"Kris?" wondered Asgore.

"Hey Dad," said Kris, biting his lip, "we're, uh, in a bit of trouble."

There was a small movement from behind the monster, as a little white head poked out. A pair of gleaming dark eyes fixed on Asogre. There was a small, bleating cry that filled Asgore's mind with familiar memories as a small figure shot, wrapping its arms tightly around him.

"What on Earth?" gasped Asgore, looking down. It was a child boss monster, dressed in green and yellow. Their horns were barely formed, and their fur was still short and fuzzy. They looked almost exactly like Asriel had done at that age.

"This is going to be hard to explain," said Kris. "Can we come in?"

"Uh, yes, yes, of course," said Asgore, moving to let the two teenagers inside. The young boss monster still clutched on to him tightly, burying their face in his stomach.

Kris trooped inside, beckoning for his companion to follow. She hesitated, glancing over her shoulder at the dark streets outside, before reluctantly following him in. Fumbling around a little in the dim light, Kris found the light switch and flooded the store with a clean white glow. "This is Susie," he said, motioning to the girl. "Susie, this is-

"I know who your Dad is, Kris," cut in Susie. She was clearly irritable.

"Right," nodded Kris, unperturbed. "And uh, that, is Asriel," he said, nodding to the child holding onto Asgore.

"What?" exclaimed Asgore, "whatever do you mean?"

"I mean, he's **an **Asriel," said Kris, frowning. "Look, it's all a very long story."

"Then...I suppose we had better sit down," said Asgore, feeling lost. "I was actually making tea when you arrived. I could easily make it for four."

"Thanks," said Kris with a small smile.

Bending down, Asgore looked closely at the child. He stared back, round eyes brimming with confusion. He did in fact look exactly like Asriel had when he was young. It was as if someone had gone back to one of their old family photos and plucked the younger version out. Whoever he was, the boy was clearly worried by whatever was going on. Putting on a kindly smile, Asgore set a hand on his shoulder. "Do you like tea, little one?" he asked. The boss monster sucked in his left cheek nervously and nodded. "Splendid. Then you can come and help me get it ready." The boy nodded again, and dutifully followed Asgore into the back.

In the other room, the small monster stared with wide eyes at the seven beautiful flowers in their glass cases. "Mind out for those," Asgore warned, as Kris and Susie followed them. Obediently Kris slipped around the flowers and Susie, after pausing for a moment to look them over, followed suit.

Before long, all four of them were sat around, either in chairs or on the floor, clutching mugs of tea. Susie sipped hers periodically, not looking at anyone else in the room. Kris kept glancing over at the small boss monster, who had sat himself down beside Asgore. Even the way he sat seemed familiar, like it was reminiscent of Asriel.

"Now then," began Asgore, surveying the two teenagers before him, "I think it's about time you start on that long story of yours, Kris."

The human nodded. "It's going to sound crazy," he warned, "but, I promise, it's all true." Asgore nodded for him to continue and Kris set about telling one of the strangest and most outlandish tales Asgore had ever heard.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

*You cannot move.

*You cannot escape.

*You cannot scream.

*You cannot reach your SAVE file.

*You call for whoever might hear you.

...

*But they could not answer.

* * *

Falling, falling, falling. All of her insides were floating, suspended in the cavity of her torso as she plummeted down. The air rushed by her face, pressing hard against her. It made her dizzy, causing her vision to wink in and out from the pressure. She was trying to kick her legs, to swing her arms, to flail in some way that might allow her to right herself. But she was falling so fast that she could barely do more than twitch.

How long had she been falling? Was it seconds, minutes, hours, perhaps even days? When was that she started falling? How had she fallen and why? All of these questions struggled to reach the front of her thoughts, but they were all drowned out by one overwhelming mantra. _I'm going to die. I'm going to die. I'm going to die._

She couldn't see the ground, but she knew it was getting closer. There was a smudge of wild colour, impossibly far away. As she fell it grew larger and larger, welling up to fill her entire vision. It was so close now that she could make out individual blades of grass and petals on yellow flowers.

The memory of landing didn't stick. Instead, her mind catapulted her forwards through dozens of identical purple rooms. Past strange, violent creatures; past hosts of eyes that peered at her from the shadows; past row upon row gleaming spikes, thirsty for blood. It was all frightening, unknown, sporadic and wild. All along it was backed by a mad cackling and the feeling of something like a rope slowly wrapping itself around her.

**[Remember]**

She crashed into a wall of dancing flames that licked and bit at her. Her skin blistered and cracked, and she screamed in pain, tears running down her face. All she saw were implacable brown eyes, looking through her. She couldn't understand what was happening to her. All she knew was that she was afraid. It wasn't supposed to be like this; the pain was supposed to have been left behind.

Now she ran, whimpering, through cold air that stung the burns on her arms, legs and neck. Fear and death pursued her, grinning, skeletal faces that laughed at her suffering. It was all horrible, all terrifying and all deadly. Breaths came in short, sharp gasps as the cold constricted her lungs, but still she staggered on. Something was driving her, something more than her fear.

Death blocked her way, a looming spectre draped round in pale fog. It spoke of things and people that she couldn't understand. It talked about friendship, but only offered her pain. Bones crawled across the ground as a fae blue light filled the air. She staggered and fell, only to be thrown to the side by the shifting mass of bones. One strike her in the head and everything began to spin.

"Get up," said Death, "You can do better than that, surely?" She stared into his face. It grinned back with hollow, empty sockets. "Fight!" ordered Death, and again the ground churned. But she was so cold. She was so tired.

Then it came. It was like drinking hot chocolate on a brisk winter morning. A warmth seeped down her throat and settled in her chest. It beat in her ears with a heady, intoxicating rhythm. Suddenly, she knew what was driving her and she no longer felt tired. The warmth spread out from her chest, engulfing her body in an internal glow. She was filled with it. She was filled with DETERMINATION!

**[Remember]**

Again she was thrown forward. She passed through dark, wet caves that came alive with the sound of rushing water. Monstrous things lurked in the shadows, hungry for her life. The wind howled, ripping and tearing at her ears. Steel flashed and a hail brilliant blue spears poured down on her. Her skin parted in an array of cuts, drawing out her blood to dye her clothes red. She screamed in both pain and defiance as the Beast charged her in a rush of metal, pain and long, needle-sharp teeth. The Beast grinned, revelling in her pain.

**[You have to remember]**

Lies, traps, betrayal and a greedy puppet that danced and sung on her grave. Lightning flashed and burned her. The mouth-watering smell of barbecued flesh twisting into a vile acrid tang. She screamed again. The Puppet snapped its strings and laughed. Its eyes sparkled with glee as it tore a screech of agony from her throat.

**[Please remember]**

Doom. The inevitable weight of failure hung over her. The Devil was a little flower. The Devil was a smiling goat. The Devil was a little boy shouting his rage and his pain across the world. The Devil looked into her eyes but didn't see her. Another voice was on her lips. Someone else saw through her eyes. But then, when had she ever been the one in control?

How long had she been falling?

Frisk awoke panting and drenched in sweat. She stared into the dark with wide eyes, seeing it full of creatures with gapping jaws and sunken eyes. Frantic, she snatched for her bedside lamp. Her hands fumbled for the switch, almost tugging the lamp over in desperation. The switch clicked down and the dark fled back into the corners of the room. There were no monsters here. She was alone.

In the shadows under her desk things seemed to be crawling. Frisk sat up and peered around her small apartment. Try as she might, she could find nothing that was out of place. There was no sign that anything had managed to slip inside. And anyway, there was nowhere in here for anyone to hide. Even her closet that sat against the far wall was too small for that.

Gradually, the fear withdrew, and Frisk's breathing slowed. She pulled her knees up against her chest and started to cry. It was always the same after these nightmares. She would panic, utterly convinced that something was in the room with her. Then, the danger would fade, leaving behind a cold, dead pall of misery. The worst part was that Frisk didn't even understand why she was so sad. It was like she'd lost something, something important. It was so important that she knew, even without understanding what it was, that she would lose life and limb to get it back. It was like her very purpose for living had slipped away from her.

And yet, no matter how desperately she tried to, she could not remember.

Frisk had (at Asriel's insistence) spoken with the school councillor. Everything they'd tried from dream journals, to meditation, to drugs had done nothing. No matter what the nightmares continued. Mercifully they didn't happen every night or else Frisk was convinced she would have gone insane. It wasn't the fear or the loss of sleep that weighed on her, so much as the feeling of sadness and loss that clung to her afterwards.

The councillor had wondered if Frisk had had a traumatic experience of some kind. He wondered if Frisk might be suppressing memories of something. But there was nothing to suppress. Frisk remembered her parents perfectly. She even remembered the car crash itself, despite being only five at the time. That was the only trauma she had ever had, and while it had kept her up at night when she was small, it had been years since that had happened. These nightmares were something else. The aching feeling that was now pulsing away in her chest was something else.

Frisk huddled back against her pillow, pulling her covers up and around her. A few quiet sobs shook her shoulders. _What am I missing? _she thought, _What's happening to me?_

* * *

Kris watched Asgore intently as his adoptive father swirled the last few dregs of his tea. It was hard to read the expression on the boss monster's face, especially for Kris who was often bad with faces.

"That is, quite the story," said Asgore at last, setting his mug aside.

"It's all true though," said Kris. He felt a slight twinge inside as he spoke. The story he had told was true, he had just left out several very important parts. But then, no one knew about that, not even Susie. The thought had crossed Kris's mind that he might take this opportunity to tell Asgore everything. He had brushed it quickly away. Revealing one thing would lead to Kris revealing another, and another and another, until he got to things that he really didn't want his dad to know about. And honestly, Kris wasn't sure he wanted Susie to know that the person she had followed through the Darkworld, the person she had made friends with, was somebody else.

Asriel had been watching Kris intently as he told the story and had been especially surprised when he had first described Ralsei. Kris had been hoping that hearing the story about how they travelled the Darkworld and confronted the King of Spades together, would somehow jog Asriel's memory of being Ralsei. But while the young boss monster seemed to pick up that there was some connection, there was never any moment of epiphany for him. Actually, Kris didn't know for sure that this Asriel was Ralsei. It did seem like a possible explanation, but really, almost anything would have worked as an explanation at this point.

Asgore gave Kris a very serious look, his gaze penetrating. Kris returned the gaze, unmoving. The large monster's shoulders sagged, and he put a hand to his head. "I'm honestly not sure what to make of all this," he said. "Magical worlds reached through supply closets? Card monsters? Dark fountains and Dark Knights? Ancient prophecies? It all sounds like something out of a story book.

"And that this young one comes from another world," he added, glancing over at Asriel. "From a world where monsters live underground, and where I am king. It all seems simply too absurd to be true."

"It is true," insisted Asriel, "You are a king; the best king ever!"

Asgore shook his head and gave a grim chuckle. "No, no," he said in low voice, "I am not fit to be king. That mantle was lost many, many years ago. It is nothing more than a delusion now." Asriel stared at him in astonishment and shock. It was like Asgore had just said that the sun was an optical illusion created by the moon.

"Do you believe us?" asked Susie, folding her arms. She had been shuffling around the room uncomfortably while Kris was telling his story. She didn't live with any family, so no one was going to miss her, but the inactivity seemed to be driving her crazy.

Frowning, Asgore scratched his chin. "I suppose I must," he said, "I can't imagine that you'd all make this up by yourselves. Not to mention As-well, this young one here." He nodded to Asriel. "At the same time, I feel most out of my depth. And you've spoken to no one else about all of this?"

Kris shook his head. "You're the first we've told," he said.

"I would say that we should go to the police, but," Asgore paused and ran a hand through his thick, yellow mane. "Honestly, even if they believed it-which I doubt they would-I'm not sure what they, or anyone else can do."

"You can come back to the Darkworld and help us kick that Knight's ass!" grunted Susie.

"My fighting days are years behind me," said Asgore, shaking his head. "My son is grown-up; I only have a few decades before age begins dragging me down. And besides, this isn't something for young people like you to be dealing with. It sounds extremely dangerous."

Kris gritted his teeth and scowled. "I'm not a child!" he snapped, "I'm eighteen. I'm a man!" Everyone looked at him in surprise at the sudden outburst. Kris cursed internally and looked at the floor. Blood rushed to his face and pounded in his ears. "I mean," he stammered, "we've already done a lot of dangerous things."

"It certainly sounds like it," agreed Asgore, "and the thought of it makes me shudder. I don't want you in harm's way, Kris." Kris snapped his head up, an angry retort building, but the look of concern on his dad's face drained it away.

"Well...we have to do something," said Susie, lamely.

Asgore stood up, the chair he'd been sitting on creaking loudly. "Perhaps," he nodded, "but I doubt there's anything to be done tonight. We all need sleep, and I have to think on this more. I still don't have my head wrapped around all you've told me. It is most extraordinary."

"But, what about Asriel?" asked Kris. The young monster looked around the room, fidgeting. "We need to take him home, or something, don't we?"

"Yes," agreed Asgore, speaking slowly and thoughtfully. "But again, I don't see what we can do at this instant. I suppose I had better look after him. Your mother might not handle this business very well. Honestly, I am not sure how well I'm handling it."

A little reluctantly, Kris nodded. Really, he didn't know what else he was expecting. A part of him must have hoped that his dad would have an easy fix to all this that he and Susie just hadn't thought of. In reality this was probably the best response they could have gotten. It was certainly better than him not believing them.

"So we're really just leaving Lancer behind then?" asked Susie, her hackles rising.

"I've been thinking about that," cut in Kris. "The Knight won't kill Lancer; he's too important. It's more likely that he's been put in the dungeon or forced to run the kingdom as a puppet."

"And what if you're wrong?" snapped Susie.

"Then...then what's done is already done," said Kris. His voice shook, but his body was stiff. "We've been away for hours. It would only have taken a few seconds for him to..." Kris to broke off in the face of the swirling fear and anger in Susie's eyes. "We can't help Lancer by rushing," he finished. There was an uncomfortable twitching in his stomach.

Susie's emotions simmered visibly, her shoulders shaking, her hands in fists and her teeth bared. Kris worried that she would lash out and smash something, glancing nervously at the seven flowers in their glass cases. Instead, Susie slumped against a wall. She said nothing, obstinately refusing to look at anybody else in the room.

"Will the two of you be all right getting home?" asked Asgore, breaking the silence.

"Yeah," said Kris. Susie managed a small nod.

"Are you ok staying here, Asriel?" Kris asked, looking to where the boss monster had been watching the tense exchange with wide eyes. He glanced up at Asgore, who returned with a soft smile. After a few moments, Asriel nodded.

"I'll be ok," he said.

"That's good," said Kris. He thought that he ought to give a reassuring smile, but the motion suddenly seemed like too much effort. His face stayed blank. "We should get going," he said, giving Susie a pointed glance. She nodded.

* * *

Hometown could be roughly divided into three parts. There were the outlying areas on the north and south sides, where all of the large middle-class houses were. Both the church and the town hall were in the south. Then there was the main suburban area, where the shops and services were and where a lot of the monsters lived. None of the houses here were huge but they were all cozy and comfortable. Then there was the part of town where the lovely timber and brick houses were replaced by ugly three-story blocks of dirty brick, cracked cement and yellowed glass.

Most people charitably referred to this area as the "urban sector" or "built up area" or something like that. Those speaking more privately (or without any courtesy) called it what it was: The Slum. It was where all the poor monsters lived; those who were down on their luck, or who never had much of it to begin with. It was also the only place where the police got called to deal with actual crimes besides speeding and vandalism.

That wasn't to say it was horrible, or even that dangerous. Compared to similar areas in even the relatively small cities like Ebott it was quite tame. There had only ever been a handful of violent crimes, and never anything serious. All the same, when compared to the rest of Hometown The Slum seemed like the most miserable place imaginable. At least to outsiders and those who were new to the area. To the monsters who lived there it was just a place.

Susie wasn't over fond of it, but she told herself that it was what it was. She'd find somewhere better someday, somehow. Even though her grades were terrible. Even though she couldn't do anything creative. Even though her social skills were in the negatives. _Urgh, I've got plenty of other shit to worry about right now, _she thought, scowling to herself as she stalked along.

The streetlights in this part of town were spaced widely apart, just barely enough to see by as you walked. It didn't matter much, as by this time of night not very many people were out. Susie hadn't seen a single soul the entire walk here. The moon was now getting high and the sky was plastered with thousands of bright stars. It was a stark contrast to the dreariness down here.

While she was tired, Susie wasn't sure if she'd be able to sleep. So much had happened today, and it was all still unresolved. She wasn't sure she'd be able to stop the clattering of thoughts going round and round in her head. That and she was hungry. There should be some stuff left in the fridge. Susie bloody well hoped there was.

She rounded the corner onto her street and strode hastily down it, wanting to just get inside and be done with this stupid day. A loud cough came from behind her and she stopped. Someone had appeared on the sidewalk behind her. It took Susie by surprise at first, since she was sure no one had been on the road behind her.

Susie was stood under one of the few streetlamps, firmly planted inside of the circle of yellow light. The other person had stopped just short, so that it was hard to make out much about him. He was tall, taller than her at least, and even in the dark appeared thin and lanky. A pair of long ears poked up from the top of his head, segmented halfway, so that they flopped back down again. His fur looked kind of pale, but in this lighting, it was hard to be sure. His clothes seemed unremarkable; long sleeves, long pants and a scarf wrapped tight around his neck.

"Hey," he said, tilting his head to one side. His voice was casual, almost lazy.

"What?" asked Susie, impatient to get home.

"Come on, no call for that," he said, a light chuckle in his voice, "I've just got a question for ya."

"Yeah, I figured," said Susie, folding her arms, "so what is it?"

"Straight to the point then?" he mused, "Fair enough. You're friends with the Dreemurr kid, right? The adopted, human one, I mean."

"Why'd you wanna know?" demanded Susie.

"Curious," he said. "The Dreemurrs are a, pet project of mine." There was a faint gleam in the dark as he made a wide smile. "I guess you could say I'm doing some research," he finished, with a light shrug.

"If you want to know things about the Dreemurrs then should go talk to them," said Susie, scowling, "You're not getting any dirt out of me."

"Not asking for any, not asking for any," he insisted, holding up both hands in protest. The motion brought them briefly into the light, showing yellow fur and only four fingers. "What about you then?" he asked, changing tack, "what's your name?"

"What's yours?" countered Susie.

"Vincent," he said, "I'm new around here. Moved all the way from Utah. Just wanna get to know who's who is all."

"You always get to know people in the middle of the night?" asked Susie.

"Why not?" asked Vincent, light reflecting again off his teeth as he smiled broadly. "I'm here, you're here. I thought this town was s'pposed to be friendly."

"...I'm Susie."

"No last name?"

"Didn't give me yours," pointed out Susie.

"Fair," agreed Vincent. "So, you're pals with the Dreemurr guy then? What was his name...Kris?"

"Look, if you want to know stuff about him, then you should ask him yourself," snapped Susie.

"Maybe I will," said Vincent, "Maybe I will." There was some kind of movement in the dark and all of a sudden, he was gone. Where to, Susie could never have even guessed.

"That's some pretty freaky magic to have," she muttered, before hurrying over to her block's door.

* * *

After he had gotten home Kris had been raked pretty hard over the coals. Toriel hadn't been worried as such-Hometown was such a safe place-she just disapproved of Kris staying out so late. He had missed dinner and had to eat his food cold. It was a quiche though, so that was fine. More of an issue was the way Kris's stomach had kept wanting to send the food back up again.

On the walk back home he had been alone. Totally and truly alone for the first time in almost a month. Trying to deal with the new, child Asriel and explaining things to Asgore had worked as distraction, but now the silence in Kris's head was starting to become deafening. He had called several times with his thoughts but there had been no reply. When they had come back from the Darkworld without Lancer, Kris hadn't given serious thought to the idea that she might have gone missing. She had gone in and out with him several times already, so he had at first just taken her silence to mean shock or surprise.

Now, lying awake in bed, a cold fear was taking root in him that maybe she had somehow been left behind. What would that mean though? She had no body of her own, so could she even exist without him? If Kris returned to the Darkworld would she come back to him? Could Kris return to the Darkworld at all if she wasn't with him? He had no idea which of his strange new abilities were down to her or to...them.

And then there was the fact that the new Asriel knew her. What did that mean? Kris had always assumed that the "time before" meant things that had happened a few years or decades ago. But this Asriel wasn't even from their world, and yet he knew her. Was that just because things were different where he came from? And did all that mean that Asriel appearing had something to do with her disappearing?

Uncertainty rung in Kris's mind like a bell. It tolled noisily, making it impossible to concentrate on any one line of thought for more than a few seconds before it was overrun by a new one. He rolled over and, pressing his forehead into the pillow, clamped his hands over his ears. It did nothing to quieten his thoughts.

He stayed like that until, finally, sheer exhaustion pulled him down into an uneasy sleep. All about him were smiling faces with gleaming red eyes. Whenever he turned to look at one of them it faded away, retreating into darkness. Laughing changed to screaming, changed to laughing, changed to sobbing. A question echoed unanswerable through the empty hallways of his mind.

"Ha ha ha. Didn't I warn you, didn't I say?"

Kris blinked in surprise. He was back in the bizarre room of spinning colours from the Darkworld. Floating in the air before him, chin resting casually on his arms, was Jevil. The strange jester creature that they had fought in his otherworldly prison. He was grinning at Kris, kicking his legs behind him in glee as he lay on some invisible surface.

"A nightmare in your hearts I said," went on Jevil, "Knight's shadow looming overhead. Now you've gone and gotten all stuffed up! Looks like it'll be tricky for you now, with just one hero left."

"One?" asked Kris.

"I fought five. One ran away, one got lost, one got took and one got sent away," said Jevil in his sing-song tone. "Now only one is left to play the maker's game. Unless some come back of course. Maybe so, or maybe not. Who knows? Not me, not in there I don't."

"I don't understand," said Kris.

"Ha ha! Of course you don't!" laughed Jevil, "if you were meant to know I'd say, it's just so much more fun this way. But watch yourself. The "Queen" is coming. Just two more days, and you'll see there's ways, this gets even more confusing. Ha ha!"

"Why are you even talking to me if you don't want me to understand anything you say?" demanded Kris.

"Because," whined Jevil, his tail lashing behind him, "you've gotta watch out. He's grumpy you see, with the man in the tree, and he wants to make trouble for you. Look out for purple and silver in the dark. Not from here, he's not from here, no, no. He got four over there and maybe more, so he'll get four over here and maybe more. Stab 'em and stuff 'em, that's what he likes, and that's what he'll do, so look out! Hahahahahahahahahahaha!"

The trilling laughter filled Kris's thoughts as the world of spinning colours shattered like broken glass. Jevil's cackling faded away as Kris fell, down, down, down, some deep, dark pit. Far away at the bottom he could a smudge of yellow ringed around with green. A thought came to Kris without prompting as he looked at the two colours far below.

Had he ever stopped falling?

* * *

**Apologies for the delay. I ended up writing the first half of the chapter only to end up sick for three days (no relation to the current pandemic). Feeling better now, so I've finally gotten around to finishing it. There's a lot of cryptic stuff in this chapter, some mild and some heavy. A special nod to the Anon who was speculating about Young Asriel in the reviews. I of course can't say if you've gotten anything right or wrong, but it's really gratifying to see people being engaged with the story. I can only hope to deliver something worthy of your expectations!**


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